Mothercare boss sacked minutes before new man is wheeled out

MOTHErCarE fired its chief executive yesterday morning just minutes before his replacement was announced to the stock market.

Mark Newton- Jones was dismissed from the ailing business as Mothercare quickly ushered in David Wood, a former Tesco director and the managing director of the US supermarket chain Kmart.

Mothercare’s chairman alan Parker confirmed that NewtonJones, 49, had been dismissed yesterday morning after the board unanimously decided to replace him.

Parker said: ‘I spoke to Mark and I think he understands and appreciates why this decision has been taken but nevertheless these things are a surprise when they happen.

‘We have looked at the results over the last few years and frankly we have been disappointed. The share price, the performance of the company and the results have not been what anybody wanted, and sooner or later the time has come for the board to take a decision on that.

‘although we recognise that Mark has done a good job we think we can do even better going forward.’

Parker added that there were no plans to change the strategy undertaken by NewtonJones during his four years running the business.

‘The problem has been in the delivery and execution and that’s where the strategy has not worked quite as well as it could have,’ he said. ‘at the moment the brief is do what we do and do it better.’

Wood, 48, has been roped in with the challenge of breathing life back into Mothercareafter it was forced to call in the accountants last month to advise on refinancing arrangements with its lenders.

He will be tasked with staving off a collapse of the company and returning it to profitability after issuing two profit warnings. Its share price has plummeted more than 76pc since the start of the year.

The quick appointment of Wood did little to calm those jitters with shares falling again yesterday by 4.8pc to17.38p.

after graduating with a degree in economics from Portsmouth University, Wood started his career working in marketing for the consumer goods giant Unilever.

He joined Tesco in 2007 where he was later appointed to turn around its Hungarian business, which saw him lead the division to record sales, profits and market share growth within two years.

He eventually became managing director for Tesco’s global health and wellness division before becoming group president of US supermarket Kmart’s $3bn grocery retail and pharmaceutical business.

During his three-year tenure at Kmart, Wood closed hundreds of stores to return the company to profit growth.

The new chief lives in Hertfordshire with his wife, rachel, and three children, Thomas, Eleanor and Madeleine.

Wood will get a salary of £430,000 but his long-term bonuses have not been set yet.