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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Nils Pratley

Asos investors unmoved despite woolly explanation for Bostocks's departure

Kate Bostock
Was Kate Bostock, steeped in the ways of big retailers like M&S, a cultural misfit at a go-go firm like Asos? Photograph: Rex Features

Nothing can disturb the calm of investors in Asos, it seems, not even the woolly explanation of why Kate Bostock is leaving after less than seven months as director in charge of product and trading.

The highly rated shares barely budged even though founder Nick Robertson's statement that he and Bostock had agreed that "Asos is not the right platform for her talent" seemed to be crafted to be obscure.

The suggestion – though it's hard to be entirely sure – is that Bostock, fresh from Marks & Spencer, was steeped in the ways of big-company retailers and found herself a cultural misfit at a go-go firm like Asos, purveyor of chic and cheap garments to 20-somethings.

Okay, fine, sometimes appointments don't work out. It's better for both sides to accept the fact and say their farewells. But does Asos still feel the need to recruit external expertise as it approaches the big league?

The initial logic in pursuing Bostock was understandable. Revenues this year will be about £750m and applying some mainstream retailing discipline to the supply chain could be valuable. After all, Robertson can't be everywhere and he's running a company that is now valued at an astonishing £3.7bn.

"The board will consider whether there is a need to seek a replacement for Kate," said the statement. Yes, it's perfectly fair for Asos to take time to ponder. But it had be better be prepared to explain its thinking in more detail.

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