Blacks CEO confirms resignation

JULIA Reynolds, the chief executive of outdoor retailer Blacks Leisure, has told TheBusinessDesk.com that she has left the business.

Although there has been some speculation that she was planning to leave, Ms Reynolds confirmed that she is no longer in the position.

She gave her resignation at the beginning of April and was put on gardening leave earlier this month.

Ms Reynolds, who previously headed up FigLeaves’  online operation and also spent more than seven years as a category director at Tesco, was only brought in as chief executive to help turnaround the ailing business in August last year.

The company was bought out of administration by Bury-based JD Sports Fashion for £20m in January.

Ms Reynolds said: “When you are in a business that’s owned by another business the most cost effective way to do things is to integrate all the things that are outside the commercial function – from IT to HR – you integrate to cut costs and make savings.

“I was a chief executive running a Plc but now half the job has gone. You can do that and not use your skills or you can do something else.

“Right now I’m having a rest – I’ve sold two businesses in three years, so I want time out for me.”

She added that it was Blacks’ existing team, and not its new owners, that had put together a plan for efficiency and integration that allowed the business to be bolted on.

At TheBusinessDesk,com’s Business Masters awards last month, JD Sports’ executive chairman Peter Cowgill told  the audience that there were synergies between the two businesses.

He said: “They are in a smiler position to us – they are a branded retailer. It is a small box operator and there are a lot of similar facets to the JD model.”

Ms  Reynolds was one of a panel of speakers that also included Jonathan Smith, CEO of Yodel; Chris Dee, COO of  independent food retailer Booths; and Mark Crutchley finance director of Schuh, at accountancy firm KPMG’s annual retail dinner.

The event was held at the Lowry Hotel and attended by some of the top names in the North West retail scene.