Go Outdoors appoints new CFO
Go Outdoors today announces the appointment of Claire Webb as chief financial officer.
The new CFO will join Go Outdoors from Maplin where she led the retailer’s finance, legal and HR functions. Under her financial stewardship, Maplin has doubled in size. She oversaw the refinancing and sale of the business to Rutland Partners earlier this year.
She will join the board of Go Outdoors in early 2015.
Announcing her appointment, Chris Matthews, CEO, said: “ I am looking forward to Claire joining the board and supporting the wider team as we enter Go Outdoors’ next stage of development. She has a strong track record and will be a very welcome addition to the team.”
Chris Morgan, current CFO, leaves Go Outdoors after several successful years with the business, during which he has been instrumental in improving the company’s financial performance and in negotiating a refinancing that is fuelling further growth.
Chris Matthews continued: “On behalf of the board I would like to extend our deep thanks to Chris Morgan. He has been instrumental in helping the company deliver record sales and achieving financial stability and he led the refinancing of the company last year. I wish him every success in the future.”
Last week Go Outdoors announced record sales of £174m for the year 2013/14 and EBITDA of £10.2 million, up from £9.4 million in the previous year. In spite of significant investment in new stores, overall debt reduced and this year the business has made further investment in new large-format stores.
