It’s curtains as Dunelm ousts boss

JOHN Browett was unceremoniously dropped as Dunelm’s chief executive yesterday after just two years in the job.

A statement from the company to the stock exchange said he had stepped down for personal reasons but also made clear bosses felt it needed new leadership.

Under Browett, 53, the firm recently posted promising sales figures and acquired home and garden retailer Worldstores, but its share price has slumped by more than 30pc. Yesterday, shares fell 3.8pc, or 22.5p, to 575.5p.

The company said the hunt for a successor had begun and that chairman Andy Harrison would take over as interim boss.

Harrison said: ‘Dunelm remains the market leader in homewares and we have ambitious and profitable growth plans.’

Browett added: ‘I am looking forward to the next chapter of my career.’ It is not the first time in that he has left a firm abruptly – he joined Apple as its retail tsar in 2012 but left six months later.

In a note, Peel Hunt analysts said: ‘[Browett’s departure] appears to be more about the style of leadership rather than the underlying performance of the business.’