Asos boss fashions exit from website

THE boss of Asos is planning to step down after 15 years at the helm of one of Britain’s most successful digital businesses.

The announcement of chief executive Nick Robertson’s planned departure from the fashion website could come as early as today.

Robertson ( pictured) launched Asos in 2000 as As Seen On Screen and grew it into a £2.5bn fashion behemoth with customers across 240 countries.

Robertson is expected to remain on the board as a nonexecutive director and is likely to be succeeded by the Asos chief operating officer, Nick Beighton.

Asos hired Helen Ashton as its chief financial officer in April.

She started in the role yesterday, leaving Beighton free to take on the top job later this year.

Although Asos has been a phenomenally successful business it endured a series of problems 18 months ago including profit warnings, slowing international sales which were hit by currency fluctuations and a fire – caused by arson – at its warehouse in Barnsley. Shares peaked at around 7050p a share in February last year – valuing it at nearly £6bn – but have more than halved since then. However they are still well above the 20p a share it floated at in 2001 on the junior AIM market. Earlier this year Robertson sold off £20m worth of shares to pay for a large tax bill and last year split from his wife of 10 years.

Robertson still owns more than 8pc of the company – valued at around £200m. In July Asos announced revenue rose 21pc in the four months to the end of June to £396.7m, compared to the previous year and sales in its home market grew 27pc. International sales, which account for around 60pc of its total business, grew 16pc.

Robertson said its strategy of cutting prices overseas to cope with currency swings had paid off and it was expecting to meet full year sales growth expectations.

Yesterday the shares slipped 10p to 2984p. The company declined to comment on Robertson.