Aspinal of London taps former Loewe chief after securing new investment

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Mar 14, 2017

Handbag brand Aspinal of London has recruited Lisa Montague, former president and CEO of Loewe, as its new CEO as it eyes growth in the UK and the Middle East following investment from Four Seasons earlier this year.

Montague has an impressive track record in the luxury bags business. She spent over seven years at Loewe, the Spanish luxury brand owned by LVMH. Prior to that, she was chief operating officer at British handbag company Mulberry. She will take up her new position in September, succeeding Sarah Rotheram, who is understood to be returning to the beauty sector.

Montague has been described as "the perfect person to take Aspinal on the next stage of its journey” by the brand’s founder Ian Burton, who sold a 20% stake in the company to investment company Four Seasons earlier this year.

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The move will help the luxury label boost its expansion plans including the opening of more shops in the Middle East and the UK. This year the brand, which was founded by Burton in 2001, will open a new flagship store in St James’s, London and another store in Edinburgh.

Aspinal is also considering further opportunities in Asia as part of a strategy to offset currency pressure from the weakening pound. The company aims to increase sales in new markets to minimise price rises in the UK.

In the last financial year, Aspinal saw sales of £23.7m, and according to Burton the business in on track to achieve sales of approximately £28m this year on the back of a 40% surge in online turnover and increased spending from overseas shoppers.