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WOUNDED WOOLIES TO SEEK NEW BOSS

Bish-Jones will stay on while the hunt for his replacement begins

Thursday June 19,2008

By Peter Cunliffe

WOOLWORTHS yesterday surprised the City by announcing the departure of chief executive Trevor Bish-Jones and unveiling a drop in sales.

It leaves the struggling retailer searching for a successor as the high street is experiencing tough trading conditions.

Analysts said the arrival of a new chief could herald a radical shake-up at the company, the subject of repeated break-up speculation.

Bish-Jones, who joined six years ago, will stay on for three months while the hunt for internal and external candidates gets under way. A compensation package is still to be negotiated but he is on a one-year contract and last year was paid £799,000.

His share options are effectively worthless, following a slide in the share price. The shares dropped more than 5 per cent to close dp lower at 9bp, down from 28p a year ago.

Chairman Richard North praised Bish-Jones’s contribution but said: “There’s a point in time in a company when it’s right you should look to have a change of leadership so someone new comes in and takes a fresh look at the business.”

A trading update for the 19 weeks to June 14 showed the stores suffered a 2.2 per cent drop in underlying sales, partly hit by the decision last year to stop selling big ticket electrical items such as flat-screen TVs.

Big sellers were entertainment products such as DVDs and computer games, on which the firm makes slimmer profits.

Total group sales were down 1.9 per cent, buoyed by its distribution businesses, including a near 30 per cent improvement at its 2entertain joint venture with the BBC, thanks to US demand for DVDs of Sir David Attenborough’s Planet Earth documentary series.

North predicted no trouble finding a high-calibre chief executive.

He said: “This is a well-loved brand for the British consumer. It most surely has a future on the high street.”