New Look promotes seven executives in leadership restructure

British fashion brand New Look is replacing its current C-suite structure with a broader Executive Committee, promoting seven senior executives ahead of Lynda Petherick coming in as CEO.

The ten-member committee will take effect on 21 September, one day before Petherick formally succeeds New Look’s current CEO Helen Connolly. 

The new structure will ensure New Look’s creative, commercial, data, people, retail, digital and operational functions are given direct representation at executive level, allowing for a broader range of perspectives to be reflected in senior decision-making.

Seven executives promoted

Petherick will sit on the Executive Committee alongside Chief Financial Officer Richard Collyer and Nicola Lucas, General Counsel and Company Secretary. An additional seven executives will be joining them, all reporting directly to Petherick. They are: 

• Anica Wislawski, as Chief Creative Officer
• Becky Pallas, as Chief Operating Officer
• Dan Chasle, as Chief Data, AI and Information Officer
• Lisa Nash, as Senior Head of People
• Mark Matthews, as Chief Retail and Digital Officer
• Matt Board, as Chief of Staff
• Sarah Betts, as Chief Commercial Officer

The leadership changes also see Chief Customer Officer Clare Dobbie leaving New Look to pursue other opportunities, with a successor not yet named. 

Petherick prepares to become CEO

Petherick was announced as New Look’s next CEO in August. She first joined the retailer as Chief Information Officer in 2024 and became Chief Operating Officer in 2025, with responsibility for its digital transformation and wider deployment of data and technology.

Before joining New Look, Petherick was Managing Director at Accenture, leading its UK and Ireland advisory business for retail and fashion. Petherick also served on the British Fashion Council’s board from November 2022 to January 2026.

Connolly, who has been with New Look for the last six years, with the last four as CEO, will remain with New Look until 21 September to support the handover. 

In November, she is then starting her new role as CEO of George at Asda, returning to the fashion and homeware business where she earlier worked for more than 15 years over two periods. 

Restructure follows earnings improvement

The leadership changes at New Look follow its strongest reported results in a decade. FY26 EBITDA rose to £36.6 million, compared with £14.3 million previously, helped by stronger margins, tighter controls on stock and markdowns, and a lower cost base.

New Look has also passed one million Club New Look members and introduced New Look Pulse, its proprietary customer-data platform. The system combines customer, product, store, loyalty and market information to support forecasting and commercial decisions. 

In July, the retailer also unveiled its largest-ever concept store at Metrocentre, marking the next phase of the retailer’s investment in digitally enhanced in-store shopping experiences.