Clarks names new UK and Ireland MD with big growth ambitions

August will see a new UK and Ireland managing director arriving at Clarks with key sports exec Bob Neville coming back to Britain from Asia to take the helm.

Neville has been based in Hong Kong for three decades and during that time has been heading teams for companies such as Under Armour, New Balance and Adidas. His last role before Clarks was as global VP of retail at Under Armour.

Clarks CEO Jon Ram said: “As we look to build on our recent good company performance, Bob will play a leading role in delivering our strategic goals and growing our business in the UK & ROI. We will also build out our global retail centre of excellence under his leadership.”

As Neville’s location of 30 years makes clear, he’s been heavily focused on the Asia-Pacific region and especially China. So it will be interesting to see him focusing on the British and Irish markets.

But despite targeting a brand new set of consumers in his new role, his long track record of leading successful businesses, driving growth in the markets in which brands are already located, and expanding into new ones should serve him well.

He said he’s excited to be returning to England to lead the “iconic brand” in its domestic market.

He also referenced increasing the label’s retail presence. 

Clarks is almost 200 years old, having been founded in 1825. It’s a massive global business with a presence in 100 markets, but has been through some bruising periods in recent years.

It went through a phase of mounting losses and a company voluntary arrangement, with worker strikes, and the sale of a controlling stake to LionRock Capital, which is now itself controlled by Li Ning’s holding company.

Under its new owner, its fortunes have turned around and recent results have seen a marked improvement.

The company has also launched key collabs with urban subculture brands and influencers/creators, as well as diving deep into the metaverse and launching new products.