Naked Wines founder Rowan Gormley has stepped down from his role as non-executive director of the DTC wine business.
Gormley – who returned with Naked Wines in dire straits in July 2023 – had been assisting Naked Wines CEO Rodrigo Maza with turnaround efforts, but has now elected to step away with immediate effect.
“Rowan’s knowledge and experience of the wine industry, and Naked as a business, has been instrumental in helping us stabilise the business and position ourselves for growth,” Maza said. “We are thankful for his leadership and guidance and are committed to realising the potential of the amazing opportunity ahead.”
Senior independent director Deirdre Runnette would assume the role of non-executive chairman on an interim basis until a successor was appointed, Naked said in a stock exchange filing this morning (31 March).
“On behalf of the board I wish to thank Rowan for his commitment and contribution to Naked over many years,” said Runnette. “His leadership ensured Naked emerged from a challenging period in a healthy position and with a new and strengthened management team. We wish him every success for the future.”
Read more: How ‘customer-centric’ CEO Rodrigo Maza plans to revive Naked Wines
The announcement comes after Naked unveiled a plan to return the business to revenue growth over the next five years last week.
The online wine retailer finally began to stem losses at the end of last year, though revenues have continued to decline – falling 15% in the six months ended 31 December 2024 – owing to the loss of old and new customers.
Naked Wines’ new strategy would deliver growth of between 5%-10% by 2030, the company said. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation would reach £10m to £15m in the short term, via a focus on high-quality core members alongside £23m in annual cost savings, it added.
Naked Wines said this would result in a net cash balance of £100m of by 2030, which would be redistributed to shareholders.
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