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 | | Tuesday, 25 September, 2001, 16:44 GMT 17:44 UK Littlewoods ousts its chief  Falling profits were "part of the background" to Mr Gibson's departure The boss of Littlewoods has fallen victim to the turmoil among the UK's middle-market retailers. Barry Gibson has left the privately-owned store group after four years as chief executive. Mr Gibson's departure from the �700,000-a-year post comes three months after Littlewoods reported a 63% slump in pre-tax profits. And the move comes amid a difficult period for retail stalwarts such as Littlewoods, C&A and Marks & Spencer, which have found trade squeezed both by discount and upmarket stores. 'Fresh face' Littlewoods director Jim Donovan said a fall in pre-tax profits from �54.4m to �18.9m in the year to the end of April had been "part of the background" to Mr Gibson's exit.
But Littlewoods praised Mr Gibson for making improvements at Littlewoods despite "difficult market conditions". Since April, group sales have risen 4%, with revenue at High Street stores surging 10%. Mr Donovan said: "In many ways he has done a fantastic job - he is an agent of change. "But the board decided they wanted a fresh face in the job to take the business forward." Mr Gibson has been replaced by Alistair McGeorge, currently supply chain director, who has been with the firm for seven years. Takeover talks The reshuffle follows extended efforts to transform Littlewoods, including the sale last year of the firm's pools business. Earlier this year the firm entered talks over a �500m buyout by catalogue retailer N Brown. Littlewoods also on Tuesday announced that chairman James Ross will leave the company in April. Mr Ross had told the board in January of his intentions. | | See also:  Top Business stories now:  Links to more Business stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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