JD Sports boss Peter Cowgill quits with immediate effect

theguardian.com:

The boss of JD Sports has stepped down with immediate effect just months after the retailer was fined more than £4m for breaching the competition regulator’s rules with clandestine meetings with a takeover target.

The company said Peter Cowgill, the outspoken chair and chief executive officer of JD, who has led the group since 2004, would be temporarily replaced as chief executive by Kath Smith, its senior independent director who spent 25 years as managing director of the Adidas and Reebok brands.

It is understood Cowgill, 69, who has sold more than £50m of shares in the company in the past two years, is leaving after he attempted to block attempts by the board to bring in new blood and split the roles of chair and chief executive, which Cowgill has jointly held since 2014.

The company was also hit by a shareholder revolt over pay last year after it emerged that Cowgill was paid almost £6m in bonuses despite the company accepting more than £100m in government support. The company did not say if Cowgill would receive a payoff.

Cowgill’s sudden exit will be a major blow to the company where he has overseen a turnaround in fortunes since returning as executive chair three years after quitting as finance director in 2001.

Under his watch, the group has expanded internationally, built a successful online business and joined the FTSE 100 after acquiring a portfolio of brands including Sprinter, Go Outdoors and Fishing Republic.

JD Sports and Footasylum were fined a combined total of £4.7m in February for sharing commercially sensitive information. An investigation by the UK competition watchdog accused them of deleting phone records, and found their chairmen to have held multiple clandestine meetings including one caught on video