Clarks chief executive officer Jonathan Ram has left the company after two years at the helm.
According to a termination filing with Companies House in the UK, Ram’s last day of employment was April 26. No other details were provided in the filing.
When contacted by FN, a Clarks spokesperson said that Ram made the decision to leave the company to “pursue other opportunities.”
“Clarks thanks Jon for his leadership and contribution to Clarks over the last two years,” the spokesperson said. “To ensure continuity in the leadership of the company, Clarks chairman Colin Li and other directors will form an interim executive committee to lead the business, pending a new CEO appointment.”
Ram joined Clarks in April 2022 after serving as the group president for global activewear at Hanesbrands Inc. Prior to that, he spent 16 years in various roles at New Balance, culminating in serving as executive vice president of North America.
At the time of his appointment, Ram was the fourth person to take on the top executive role in the last four years, excluding interim leaders in the position. Ram’s appointment came about four months after former CEO Victor Herrero stepped down from the role in November 2021 after serving just nine months in the position. Clarks’ then-chairman Johnny Chen had filled in as interim CEO.
Herrero took the top job in March 2021 after then-CEO Giorgio Presca, stepped down “to pursue other opportunities” after LionRock Capital acquired a majority stake in Clarks for an investment of 100 million pounds. Presca had served in the top role for just two years and had initially come on board in 2019 to replace former CEO Mike Shearwood, who resigned in June of 2018 following an investigation into complaints of conduct that went against the company’s code of business ethics. He had been in the role since 2016.
In its most recent annual report filed with Companies House in September, Clarks reported net sales of 502.8 million pounds in the period ended Dec. 31, 2022. This is down 2 percent from 511.9 million pounds the prior year.
The company said in the report that 2022’s dip in sales was largely due to late deliveries of product, intermittent quality issues and reduced availability of stock. “The surge in post pandemic demand could not be met due to global supply chain issues in the first half of 2022,” Clarks stated. “Reduced stock availability led to lower levels of conversion in store and online.”
