Is a retail whizz about to save Burberry?

THE right hand man of Burberry boss Christopher Bailey is to step down – sparking fresh rumours that a top retail guru is being recruited to help turn around the struggling group.

Chief operating officer John Smith has announced he is leaving next summer.

He has held the job since March 2013, having served as a non-executive director since 2009.

Smith, previously chief executive of BBC Worldwide, led Burberry’s digital expansion. He said he plans to take on another top business job elsewhere.

Bailey’s controversial dual role of heading up design and being chief executive – with little corporate experience – has concerned some shareholders.

Burberry has struggled in the face of weakening sales in Asia and reported a 10pc fall in profit to £421m for the year to end-March when sales fell 1pc to £2.5bn. Smith’s departure frees the group to hire a senior expert in charge of retail and digital at the luxury brand, and the company has acknowledged it needs to improve its retail expertise.

Exane BNP Paribas luxury expert Luca Solca said: ‘Clearly, Burberry needs to go through senior management adjustments, as the organisation based on Christopher Bailey having a dual role does not seem ideal – and results are under pressure.

‘John Smith retiring opens the opportunity for further changes in senior responsibilities. A most natural one would be for the future retail director to carry digital responsibility too.’

Earlier this week Burberry said Bailey’s pay had been cut by £6m after failing to meet targets. He suffered one of the biggest pay cuts ever seen at a FTSE100 firm – down 75pc – as his total fell to £1.9m for 2015 from £7.9m.

Shares fell 2pc or 22p to 1068p.