Senior figures step aside at Revolution Beauty Group to focus on audit probe
Two senior board members at beauty products business, Revolution Beauty Group, are stepping aside from day to day management as part of the investigation being carried out into its 2022 audit.
Executive chairman Tom Allsworth and CEO Adam Minto have voluntarily agreed to step away from their day to day duties for the time being to allow them to support the independent investigation being carried out by Forensic Risk Alliance and Macfarlanes.
The group said this is not a result of any matter arising from the independent investigation to date.
In August, Manchester-based online retailer, boohoo, announced it would become a “supportive stakeholder and long term partner” in Kent-based Revolution Beauty Group after taking a 7.1% stake in the business, which suspended dealing in its shares in early September due to concerns over its audit.
The Revolution board, including Tom and Adam, said it considers that, at the current time, the group requires an operational leader that can devote their full time and attention to managing the group’s business and lead the ongoing discussions with its stakeholders, including customers, suppliers and banking partners.
Tom and Adam will remain directors of the group but will not take part in any day to day decisions concerning the group until completion of the independent investigation.
In light of Tom and Adam temporarily stepping back from day to day involvement in the business, the company has appointed Bob Holt as interim chief operating officer, subject to completion of customary regulatory due diligence.
Bob has been appointed on an interim basis pending the completion of the independent investigation to provide leadership for the company while that investigation is ongoing. He will not be a director of the company and will report directly to the group board.
The group said Bob Holt is a highly experienced public company executive who has successfully led a number of PLCs through flotations and turnarounds, most recently as chairman of SureServe Group, Totally and Mears Group.
On September 23, Revolution announced that its auditor, BDO, had identified a number of serious concerns that had arisen during the course of its work on the 2022 audit regarding, amongst others, the group’s ability to provide sufficient and accurate audit evidence in respect of a number of key audit areas and the validity of certain commercial arrangements entered into by the company.
BDO recommended that the board appoint independent external advisers to undertake an independent investigation regarding the concerns raised and report their findings to an independent committee.
The company duly announced that it had appointed Macfarlanes and Forensic Risk Alliance to begin an independent investigation.It also formed an investigation committee of Derek Zissman (non-executive director) and Elizabeth Lake (CFO since June 2022) to lead the process with the independent advisers.
The board said the investigation may take several months to complete.
