John Lyttle appointed boohoo CEO

Fashion firm boohoo has announced John Lyttle as its next chief executive, set to take up the role in March 2019.

boohoo has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London and beyond, but the heart of its UK distribution sits in Burnley, where the company has a permanent workforce of nearly 1,500

The company has capitalised on a market shift towards fast fashion and online retail to increase turnover 24-fold from £24.5m in 2011 to £579.8m for the year ended 28 February 2018.

John will join the company from Primark, where for eight years he has been chief operating officer and achieved a 158 per cent growth in turnover to £7bn. He has also worked in senior roles at Matalan and the Arcadia Group.

Mahmud Kamani, currently joint chief executive, will become group executive chairman of the company with effect from 15 March 2019. Carol Kane, also joint chief executive, will remain on the main board in an executive role and will assume the title of group co-founder and executive director.

Together, they said: “We are thrilled to have secured a candidate of John’s calibre as our CEO. We have got to know John over a number of years and are convinced he has the necessary skills to complement what we already have and take the group on to its next stage of growth. Both of us remain totally committed to the business and will ensure a measured and careful handover." John said: “I have known Mahmud and Carol for a number of years and have watched the growth of the boohoo group with admiration. I am hugely excited to be joining the Group at this key stage of its growth and capitalising on what is a global opportunity.”