Agent Provocateur chairman replaced after accounting issue

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Dec 12, 2016

Lingerie firm Agent Provocateur’s chairman Chris Woodhouse has left the post following news last month of a shock restructuring and the need for a new cash injection.

Its private equity owner 3i said in November that it had been forced to act following “inconsistent execution of its recent store expansion programme and the discovery of accounting issues.” It pumped an extra £4m into the business.

Woodhouse, who is also CEO of motoring organisation the RAC, is being replaced by 3i partner Ian Lobley but will stay on as a non-executive director.

The company did not give any details about what the accounting issue was but Sky News suggested it was overstatement of profits. Whatever the reason, it meant the value of the brand dropping by £39m and the company bringing in a new management team.

The brand has been hit hard by the luxury slowdown and has seen tepid trading in new stores, according to reports.