Harvey Nichols boss resigns after strategy dispute with owner | Retail industry

The boss of Harvey Nichols has quit the retailer she first joined 25 years ago after tensions over its strategy and a member of the owning family will take the reins.

Manju Malhotra started at the Knightsbridge store in London in 1998 as a newly qualified accountant and worked her way up through the ranks before becoming chief executive in January 2020, just before the pandemic forced stores to shut.

The down-to-earth Londoner, whose first experience of retail was helping out at her parents’ fashion store off Brick Lane in the East End, left after a disagreement over strategy with the group’s Hong Kong-based owner, Sir Dickson Poon.

Malhotra is understood to have disagreed with the owners over the pace of change at the company. According to the Daily Telegraph, Malhotra wanted to make significant changes after several years of losses at the group, which has eight stores in the UK and Ireland, including large outlets in Edinburgh, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester, as well as a specialist beauty shop in Liverpool and five overseas branches.

She will remain in her role until the end of December and Pearson Poon, 29, an executive director and son of the owner, will lead the business as vice-chair until the appointment of Malhotra’s replacement. The company said Pearson Poon would work closely with Malhotra until she left.

Dickson Poon, who has owned the retailer since 1991 and chairs Harvey Nichols, thanked Malhotra for her loyalty. “Manju has been instrumental in driving the business through unprecedented times and laid out strong foundations which we will continue to build on for the future,” he said.

Malhotra said: “I have had the most amazing 25 years at Harvey Nichols, starting from a member of the finance team to becoming chief executive … Together, we have galvanised Harvey Nichols, leveraging its position in the market as a luxury destination delivering exceptional in-store and digital customer experiences.”

Malhotra had a difficult stint in charge as she tried to adapt Harvey Nichols to a rapidly changing retail landscape during and after the pandemic, in which the department store chains Debenhams and Beales collapsed, and rivals including House of Fraser, John Lewis and Fenwick closed stores.

Harvey Nichols sales fell in the year to March 2022, according to the most recent accounts, while revenues were down by 16% on their 2019 peak, at £191.7m, as Covid-enforced lockdowns and restrictions on travel kept high-spending tourists away. The company fell £30.4m into the red during the financial year, the third consecutive year of losses.

The business has struggled to adapt to the rise of online shopping and recently offered more dining, beauty and online services to keep customers on board.

Harvey Nichols’ boardroom went through a period of turbulence well before the pandemic, kicked off by the 2014 departure of Joseph Wan, who steered the company for 21 years, helping build its reputation as a high-fashion magnet.

He was replaced by Stacey Cartwright, a former Burberry executive, who stepped aside to become deputy chair in 2017 after the business dived into the red following an expensive refurbishment project at the flagship Knightsbridge store. She left Harvey Nichols the following year.

She was succeeded by Malhotra and a co-chief operating officer, Daniela Rinaldi. The pair led a short recovery in sales and profit in 2018 and 2019, before Rinaldi resigned in late 2019.

In the past 18 months, Malhotra has taken on two non-executive director posts – at the office and workshop landlord Workspace and the fund manager Abrdn’s smaller companies growth trust. It is thought that she may seek other similar non-executive roles.