It is testament to the job Rachel Osborne has done under the most difficult of circumstances that the former Debenhams finance chief has been trusted to lead Ted Baker through the toughest period in its history.
Osborne joined the business as CFO back in September and was promoted to acting CEO just three months later following the departure of her predecessor Lindsay Page.
Since then, she has made some smart decisions that have put a stumbling business back on a slightly more stable footing. Last week it was confirmed that Ted Baker had sold its £79m headquarters to shore up the balance sheet and has also agreed to increase its loan facility by £13.5m.
Osborne has been similarly decisive when it comes to the executive team, slashing the board from 13 to nine members including the departures of special projects director Rebecca Rodden and production director Donald Browne, both of whom had over 20 years’ service to their names.
Those she has recruited to replace them include chief customer officer Jennifer Roebuck and American fashion designer Michael Bastian as interim creative officer.
These are extraordinary times for a company that less than 18 months ago had a market capitalisation of just shy of £1bn. Since then, founder and CEO Ray Kelvin has left in the wake of the ‘forced hugging’ scandal, soon to be followed out the door by long-serving lieutenants like chief finance officer Charles Anderson and digital commerce director Craig Smith.
An initial £25m black hole in the accounts has since been found to be more than double that, while profit warnings have been as frequent as executive departures.
As a consequence, Osborne, who trained as a vet before choosing a career in business, has been left to piece together the jigsaw of how the business operates minus well over a century’s cumulative experience of executives who – as Retail Week reported in December – had a tendency to hoard knowledge between them.
In her brief period in charge, Osborne has leaned heavily on the help of external consultants to review the business model. As a result, insiders say the culture of the Kelvin era, personified by the founder himself, has all but disappeared.
This is inevitable for a business whose crash has been so sudden and dramatic. And yet things are set to get harder before they get easier as the spread of coronavirus results in the shutdown of almost the entire global store estate.
Osborne, however, has already proven herself to be adept in times of crisis having played a key role in restructuring the Debenhams business to keep it afloat.
There will be those who question whether a finance specialist possesses the vision to rebuild a brand known for its creativity and flair – but such questions are largely irrelevant for the time being.
Her CV, which features stints with as many as nine major companies including John Lewis and Vodafone, suggests Osborne is not in it for the long-haul. But if she can guide the business safely through the next 12 months, her key role in the history of one of Britain’s most colourful retailers will be remembered for years to come.