Go Outdoors director named as new CEO for listed fishing retailer

Listed retailer Fishing Republic has appointed a new chief executive, who will join the Rotherham-firm from national retailer Go Outdoors.

Daniel Quinn, who has been the commercial director at Go Outdoors for six years, will take up the position from 17 October. Prior to his Go Outdoors role, he worked for Tesco for over 20 years where he held a number of senior commercial positions, both in the UK and overseas, in Asia and Central Europe.

James Newman, who has been acting in an executive capacity, will resume his role as non-executive chairman.

The appointment follows a tough trading period for Fishing Republic. In May, its full year accounts revealed that it made pre-tax losses of £2.2m during 2017, despite growing revenues 57%.

Reporting on the full year to December 31 2017, the firm reported pre-tax losses of £2.2m, a drop from pre-tax profits of £320,771 in 2016. The firm’s revenues grew 57% from £5.7m in 2016 to of £9.1m in 2017.

This followed an announcement in November last year that it had suffered a significant deterioration in trading, which led to its CEO Steve Gross stepping down and being replaced by Chris Griffin as acting chief executive. Griffin has since left the business and a new COO – Stephen Kyriacou  – appointed.

Newman, Chairman, said: “I am delighted to welcome Daniel to the Board as Chief Executive Officer. He has substantial experience in the retail sector, including outdoor pursuits, and we look forward to working with him as we turnaround Fishing Republic’s performance and address the exciting opportunities that exist to significantly scale the business.”

 Quinn added: “I am looking forward to joining Fishing Republic and working with the team to drive both a recovery in the Group’s financial performance and establish a long-term growth plan, aimed at positioning the Group as a multi-channel leader in the sector.

“As much as there are challenges to be overcome, there are also some very clear short-term opportunities to materially improve performance. We will be focusing on these opportunities as well as the longer-term strategy over the coming months. With a strong team and the continued support of shareholders and suppliers, I am confident of our future success.”

 On commencement of his employment, Quinn will be granted 1 million share options in the company under the Company’s EMI Scheme at a price of 10p per share. In addition, he will be guaranteed a bonus of £75,000 on 31 March 2019, which will be taken in Fishing Republic shares at the 30 day Volume Weighted Average Price of the Company’s shares on 31 March 2019.

A Long Term Incentive Scheme over three years, commencing on 1 January 2019, will also be created, which will allow Quinn to be awarded a maximum of £700,000 of shares in the company conditional on the Company achieving certain EBITDA and share price targets over this three year period.

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