Blacks Leisure appoints interim FD

Blacks Leisure has announced Dominic Lavelle as interim finance director as it continues its hunt for a full time replacement for Marc Lombardo, who resigned in September.

Lavelle will take up his post at the struggling outdoor equipment retailer on 21 November.

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Other recent appointments include new CEO Julia Reynolds, who took on her role in August, after quitting as CEO of Figleaves.com.

Acting Chairman Peter Williams is to take the job on on a permanent basis.

Blacks said Lavelle brought extensive retail experience having been finance director at Allders, Oasis Stores and Laura Ashley Holdings during the last 15 years.

He also had significant experience of turnaround projects, most recently at Findel and previously at Gladedale Group, the company said.

In its interim statement Blacks posted a loss before tax from continuing operations of £16m, compared with a £7.2m loss for the same period last year.

Like-for-like sales declined by 7.2% to £81.1m in what the company termed "an extremely challenging period for the business and the UK retail sector more widely".

Gross margins fell to 43.7% from 48.8% the previous years "reflecting a tough consumer environment and clearance of excess stocks", the firm said. Levels of stock were reduced by 27.6% to £28.5m.

However, the firm remained adamant that there was opportunity to turn its fortunes around.

Chief executive Julia Reynolds said since August the firm had addressed some critical retail issues, most notably realigning the stock position and strengthening the management team in key functions, while implementing a root and branch review of the business.

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