The move comes as a result of an ongoing review of the firm’s internal governance. But the shock nature of the announcement was clearly not welcomed by some as the firm’s share price dropped over 6% in late trading before the London Stock Exchange closed for the day.

So what do we know about the two people who will take over at the £5.8 billion company for now? Non-executive director Helen Ashton, is currently chair of the Audit & Risk Committee and, as mentioned, becomes interim non-executive chair. She joined the board only in November 2021 but has held a wide range of executive level roles including at ASOS, Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays

Meanwhile Kath Smith is also a non-exec (and is in fact the senior independent director). She becomes interim CEO and having considerable sports and outdoor industry experience. She’s worked for over 25 years in the sector as MD of the Adidas Reebok brands and her previous position prior to joining the board was GM and VP of The North Face

She “will work closely with the senior leadership team to continue to deliver on the group’ s proven and successful strategy.

The company said the process to recruit a CEO remains ongoing and a process will now start to recruit a new non-executive chair.