Asos names ITV's Adam Crozier its new chairman

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jul 3, 2018

Asos has announced that its chairman is standing down after six years and it’s replacing him with someone whose experience is much wider than the fashion retail sector.

Brian McBride will be stepping down as Chair and Non-Executive Director on November 29 after a period of strong growth at the firm and he will be succeeded by Adam Crozier on the same day.

Crozier may not be a big name in the fashion sector, but he has extensive boardroom experience, with directorships of Saatchi & Saatchi, Vue International, G4S, the Football Association, the Royal Mail and most recently ITV plc, where he was CEO until June last year.  

He also joined the Whitbread board in April 2017, becoming Senior Independent Director in September and Chair in February this year.

The incoming exec said he's excited to be joining company and “looking forward to working with the team that is building a global powerhouse in online fashion.”

He's certainly a high-profile appointment for the company which has grown during this century into one of the biggest global names in pure-play online fashion retail.

But while its growth curve is still strong, it can't afford to take its eye off the ball as competition in the online space heats up. Its senior team needs to stay on top of technology developments, while connecting with the best brands and navigating a regulatory environment in which there are ever more calls for a level playing field between online sellers and the physical store retailers that are burdened with business property taxes.