Burberry appoints Kate Ferry as chief financial officer

Burberry has announced the appointment of Kate Ferry as chief financial officer and executive director.

Ferry, the company said in a release, who will join Burberry by early September 2023 at the latest, will have responsibility for finance and business services functions and will become a member of Burberry's board and executive committee, reporting to CEO Jonathan Akeroyd.

Commenting on the new CFO appointment, Jonathan Akeroyd, said: "Kate has extensive experience of public markets, business transformation and development and an excellent understanding of the luxury industry. She is a strong addition to our leadership team and I am excited about her joining to support this next phase of Burberry's development."

Ferry is currently chief financial officer of McLaren Group where she has overseen financial strategy and investor relations and has supported the broader strategic development of the company over the past two years. Prior to McLaren, she was group chief financial officer of TalkTalk Telecom Group PLC from 2017 to 2021. She is also currently an independent non-executive director of Greggs plc.

"I'm delighted that Jonathan has recruited Kate to our top team. I'm very confident that she has the energy and experience to support the delivery of our ambitious plan, announced last November by Jonathan, to realise Burberry's potential in Modern British Luxury," added Gerry Murphy, chair of Burberry.

Ferry, the company added, will succeed Julie Brown, currently Burberry chief operating and financial officer. As announced on 23 September 2022, Brown will leave Burberry on April 1, 2023 after more than six years with the company. Ian Brimicombe, currently SVP, specialist finance and projects at Burberry, has been appointed interim chief financial officer from Apri 2,l 2023 and will join Burberry's executive committee from that date.

Ferry began her career with PricewaterhouseCoopers in London and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1998. She then moved to Merrill Lynch where she became a director within the retail sector equity research team, participating in numerous IPOs including that of Burberry.

After almost 10 years in banking, she joined retail telecoms group Carphone Warehouse PLC as corporate affairs director, where she became a member of the executive committee following the multi-billion pound merger of Carphone with Dixons Retail to form Dixons Carphone PLC.