Leighton gives backing to new chief at Pace

The Pace chairman praised Mike Pulli, the new chief executive of the Saltaire-based business, for the direction he is taking the company in.

“I’m pleased with how it’s worked out. It’s early days but Mike has done an excellent job.”

Mr Pulli took over from Neil Gaydon after a series of profit warnings and confusing statements to the market.

Pace was promoted to the FTSE 250 in the stock exchange’s latest quarterly reshuffle.

The group is seeing a new lease of life under Mr Pulli, who issued an upbeat trading statement in July.

Pace has raised its full-year earnings forecasts as margins improved and supply disruptions eased.

Mr Leighton said he is not looking to take on any more non-executive roles after deciding to join value fashion retailer Matalan this week.

He already counts Pace, shoe chain Office, jewellery company Pandora and music and DVD retailer Entertainment Magpie among his non-executive director roles.

Mr Leighton’s move to Matalan marks his return to the value fashion sector following the collapse of Peacocks, where he was also chairman.

He tried to work out a rescue deal for Peacocks, but it could not be achieved in time for the retailer to avoid going into administration.

Mr Leighton said he has known and admired Matalan for years dating back to when he was the chief executive of Leeds-based Asda in the late 1990s.

“I like the business. It’s one of the formative value volume retailers. It has a unique position out of town while Primark is in town,” he said.

“Everything value/volume is of today if you get it right.

“A couple of players will do really well and I think Matalan is one of them. I think it’s a really interesting growth business.”

He believes that consumers will stay loyal to the value retailers even when the economy does eventually pick up.

“Value retailing is here to stay,” he said.

He won’t work on a days per week basis, but said he will always be available if needed.

“It’s a Northern business so that fits in with when I come up to see Pace and Entertainment Magpie,” he said.

He said there are no plans to return Matalan to being a listed company.

“It will stay private for the foreseeable future. We have two to three years of really growing the business and that gives us a lot of options,” he said.

Matalan reported a 4.1 per cent increase in revenue to £269.2m in its second quarter covering the 13 weeks to August 25.

Underlying earnings rose from £13.6m to £17.3m.

The group reported a strong closing cash position of £117.9m, up from £75.1m in 2011 and said the outlook remains cautious.

Matalan’s chief executive Darren Blackhurst said: “We continue to deliver outstanding value for our customers and have navigated our way through a challenging quarter, achieving robust results in a tough, competitive market.

“Whilst we remain cautious in our outlook, with the launch of our exciting new collections for Autumn/Winter and our continued focus on quality, service and value, we are confident we are well placed to delight customers in the months ahead.”

After six years as chairman, John Mills is stepping down to deputy chairman when Mr Leighton joins.

Mr Mills said: “I am delighted to welcome Allan to the board. He brings a wealth of retail experience particularly in the value sector, which will support Matalan’s ongoing development. We look forward to working with Allan.”

Mr Leighton said: “I am very excited about this opportunity. Matalan is a great company with a strong brand and management team.

“I look forward to working with the team to build on its fantastic reputation as a family retail- er.”

Matalan was taken private by founder John Hargreaves for £817m in 2006.

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