Walpole names Fortnum & Mason CEO as chair
In a statement, Athron said of his appointment: 'It is a privilege to take on the role of chair at Walpole. I look forward to working closely with chief executive Helen Brocklebank, the board and our members to continue advancing Walpole's mission to promote, protect and develop the British luxury sector both in the UK and internationally.'
Athron has helmed Fornum & Mason since December 2020, prior to which he served as chief operating officer at MatchesFashion, where he led the global scaling of the business. He had also spent 13 years at John Lewis Partnership, where he held several senior positions, including on the main board.
His appointment at Walpole comes at a turbulent time for the UK's luxury sector, which has faced impact from the pandemic, the removal of VAT-free shopping, Brexit and other supply chain disruptions. In the organisation's latest report, 'Trading with Europe', it was stated that while the sector is projected to reach 125 billion pounds by 2028, fashion and accessories from the UK experienced a 64 percent decline in exports to the EU.
Walpole thus called on the UK government to mitigate such impact by initiating a number of strategies, including the introduction of a new digital labelling scheme, to join the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention on Rules of Origin, secure a UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement and bring together freight companies to create consistency in trade rules.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
2 minutes ago
- The Independent
Crystal Palace lose appeal against their demotion from Europa League
Crystal Palace have lost their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against their demotion from the Europa League and will play in the Conference League this season. The FA Cup winners were demoted to the Conference League by European football's governing body UEFA on July 11 after it determined that as of March 1, American businessman John Textor had control or influence at both Palace and French club Lyon. Nottingham Forest – who travel to Selhurst Park for Palace's first home league game on August 24th – have taken the Europa League place. A CAS media release read: 'The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed an appeal by Crystal Palace FC (CPFC) against UEFA, Nottingham Forest FC and Olympique Lyonnais (OL) concerning a decision by UEFA to remove CPFC from the UEFA Europa League 2025/2026 due to a breach of UEFA multi club ownership regulations. 'As a result, CPFC will be admitted to compete in the UEFA Conference League 2025/2026. 'The appeal sought to annul the decision by the UEFA Club Financial Control Body on 11 July 2025 which found CPFC and OL non-compliant with multi club ownership regulations. 'Alongside the annulment of the decision, CPFC requested readmission to the UEFA Europa League with Nottingham Forest or OL's admission rejected. 'After considering the evidence, the Panel found that John Textor, founder of Eagle Football Holdings, had shares in CPFC and OL and was a Board member with decisive influence over both clubs at the time of UEFA's assessment date. 'The Panel also dismissed the argument by CPFC that they received unfair treatment in comparison to Nottingham Forest and OL. The Panel considered that the UEFA Regulations are clear and do not provide flexibility to clubs that are non-compliant on the assessment date, as CPFC claimed. 'This was an expedited procedure, with an operative decision rendered two and a half weeks after the appeal, filed on 21 July 2025. Unless Parties request confidentiality, a full Award (with grounds) will be made available on the CAS website in due course.' Textor has now sold his stake in Palace, with the purchase of his shares by New York Jets owner Woody Johnson completed in late July. Palace chairman and co-owner Steve Parish, speaking after the Eagles beat Liverpool to lift the Community Shield, said his team would look for any alternative solutions should the verdict not go their way. He said: 'If we don't get the right outcome, then we will have to look if there's any steps after that.'
The Independent
2 minutes ago
- The Independent
Crystal Palace to play in Conference League as appeal against Uefa demotion fails
Crystal Palace have lost their appeal against UEFA's decision to drop them from the Europa League tournament to the third-tier Conference League in a multi-club ownership case, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on Monday. Palace had qualified for the Europa League through their stunning FA Cup victory over Man City, a historic first major trophy in the club's history and one they followed up on with yesterday by winning the Community Shield. However, Uefa ordered the Eagles to play in the third-tier European competition in July following a breach of its multi-club ownership rules. The club crucially missed a March 1 deadline to demonstrate that American co-owner John Textor, also a part-owner at Lyon, had no control or influence over more than one club in the same competition. This decision has been upheld by CAS after an appeal was lodged by Palace last month. 'After considering the evidence, the Panel found that John Textor, founder of Eagle Football Holdings, had shares in Crystal Palace and Lyon and was a board member with decisive influence over both clubs at the time of Uefa's assessment date,' a statement from CAS read. 'The Panel also dismissed the argument by Crystal Palace that they received unfair treatment in comparison to Nottingham Forest and Lyon. The Panel considered that the Uefa Regulations are clear and do not provide flexibility to clubs that are non-compliant on the assessment date, as Crystal Palace claimed.' Uefa's Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) decided Textor's interest in both clubs meant only one could enter the Europa League, with Lyon 's higher league position of sixth edging out Palace, who finished the Premier League campaign in 12th. Nottingham Forest are expected to benefit from the Eagles' demotion, replacing them in the Europa League following their seventh-place league finish. Textor went on to sell his 42.9 per cent stake at Selhurst Park in a bid to save Palace's Europa League status, with controversial New York Jets owner Woody Johnson completing the acquisition of the American's shareholding last month in a deal believed to be worth close to £200m. The move came too late to satisfy Uefa, however, with Palace forced to take their fight to CAS as their fans protested vehemently. After hundreds of supporters made their feelings clear in an initial protest outside Selhurst Park, The Indepedent revealed that members of Palace ultras Holmesdale Fanatics - who organised the first march - travelled to Uefa's HQ in Nyon, Switzerland to combat the perceived injustice head-on. They delivered a suitcase of fake money, which represented 'the contradictions between their supposed 'fundamental values' of integrity and fairness, and the reality of their business methods and general conduct', as described in a statement from the fan group. Following the protest in Nyon, they travelled to the Lausanne headquarters of CAS to reiterate their desire to have the ruling overturned, just a couple of hours before CAS confirmed Palace had lodged an appeal against Uefa's verdict. A closed-door hearing in Lausanne took place on August 8, just two days before Palace's victorious return trip to Wembley on Sunday, with a verdict penned in for today.
The Independent
2 minutes ago
- The Independent
British toy shop chain The Entertainer hands ownership to its 1,900 staff
One of the UK's biggest toy chains is set to become employee-owned after the founders said they were handing over control to the group's 1,900 staff. The Entertainer, which is behind Early Learning Centre toys, will share profits amongst workers under the new structure. Gary Grant opened the first shop in Buckinghamshire with his wife Catherine 44 years ago. The group now runs some 160 shops and 1,000 concessions across the UK in retailers like Tesco and Marks & Spencer. Mr Grant said it was a 'momentous day' for the family, adding: 'Over the last 44 years, we have invested our working lives into this business. 'All our children are shareholders, and our two oldest sons joined to work alongside us, 20 years ago – so it's truly a family business. 'This is a significant decision for the family, and one we haven't taken lightly, but it feels like the right time to transfer our entire shareholding into an employee ownership trust.' As beneficiaries of the trust, employees will be handed bonuses based on the amount of profit the business makes in the future. It also means staff get to have a say in how the business is run. The Entertainer shops across the UK close on Sundays as part of the Grant family's Christian ethos which encourages staff to spend the day with their families. The group made a pre-tax profit of £7.9 million in the year to the end of January 2024, according to its most recently filed accounts. The UK's biggest employee-owned company is the John Lewis Partnership, with around 70,000 of its staff sharing in the company's profits. Outdoor activities group Go Ape has some 1,000 staff that share in any surplus profits after handing over ownership in 2022, while TV and hi-fi retail chain Richer Sounds transferred shares into a trust six years ago. James de la Vingne, chief executive of the Employee Ownership Association, said it was 'always an exciting time when a major high street brand takes the bold move to become employee-owned'. 'We're seeing a growing trend for retailers making the move to employee ownership alongside calls to help save the high street,' he said.
