The chief executive of a North East sofa retailer who has helped turn the business into a £333m turnover listed business has announced plans to retire.
David Knight, the group CEO, said he will retire from the Sunderland based business in 12 months’ time after spending more than 30 years with the company.
Mr Knight, first joined the business in 1987 as a general manager from Wades Department Store and has been instrumental in growing the firm to a 100-store nationwide operation.
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He said he has decided to retire from full time executive responsibilities and will be leaving the group in a year, and is prepared to be flexible should the appointment of his successor and a smooth handover require a little longer.
A search process to find his successor will start soon.
After progressing to become the manager of the group’s flagship store, based at the Metrocentre in Gateshead, he became national sales manager in October 1995.
Five years after he was appointed to the board in 1997, he was promoted to chief executive officer.
Mr Knight launched the firm’s entry on the London Stock Exchange in January 2015, when he and other directors took 20 ScS staff from the Sunderland head office and stores across the country to open the market in its first week following flotation.
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Chairman Alan Smith said: “David has committed a very substantial part of his working career to ScS and has been pivotal to its success.
“We are delighted that he will remain in the role of group CEO until we have his successor in place and ensured an orderly handover.
“On behalf of the board, shareholders and all other ScS stakeholders, I thank David for his outstanding contribution to the group and wish him the best of health and happiness for his life beyond ScS.”
His departure comes just over two years after fellow long-serving director, managing director Kevin Royal, announced he was leaving, after working at the company for 36 years, having first joined as a trainee store manager.
Mr Knight’s departure comes amid a testing period for the retailer, which revealed that like-for-like orders slipped 4.4% for the 26 weeks to January 25 2020, in line with the board’s expectations.
However, the firm said that the last nine weeks, which includes the key winter sales period, had seen like-for-like order intake growth of 1.2% when compared to the same period last year.
The lift was a significant improvement on trading for the first 17 weeks of the year, which had a like-for-like order intake decline of 7.1%. This has resulted in a like-for-like order intake decrease for the 26 weeks ended 25 January 2020 of 4.4% and a two year like-for-like order intake decrease of 2.9%.
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The firm added: “The group continues to focus on building a flexible and resilient business, whilst delivering a value proposition with excellent customer service.
“Whilst we are mindful of the continued economic uncertainty and subdued consumer confidence, we believe that this focus puts us in a strong position to take advantage of opportunities which will add value in the longer term.”