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Mamas & Papas CEO steps down, firm names new leaders as investment ramps up

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Mamas & Papas CEO steps down, firm names new leaders as investment ramps up


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August 21, 2025

Long-established UK-based Mamas & Papas is gearing up for the Golden Quarter with “significant” investment to grow the business at home and abroad with a new leadership team set to deliver the strategy as its CEO steps down.

Sarah Ashby

Backed by private equity firm BlueGem, the Huddersfield-based company “wants to build the Mamas & Papas brand by leverage its customer data across its digital marketing and accelerate its international rollout to deliver its ambition”. 

It also plans to continue consolidating its position in the UK market, where it has a 20% share, through its multi-channel store and online model.

Although the company didn’t expand further on its plans, the new strategy will be executed under the guidance of new leadership team. The group’s CFO Sarah Ashby is not only promoted to COO, but also becomes interim CEO to replace chief executive Nathan Williams who departs after seven years in the post.

Williams is now set “to pursue non-executive and advisory opportunities after a career spanning almost 30 years in senior management”. The company said that during his tenure, Williams “oversaw the build of a significant UK concessions business, international partnerships and the brand’s purpose-driven initiatives”. 

It added that recruitment of a new CEO was under way and would be announced shortly. Meanwhile Steve Parkin, former CEO of peer Mayborn Group and its Tommee Tippee brand, has joined as chairman, bringing his “extensive experience in scaling international businesses in the nursery sector”.

Steve Parkin
Steve Parkin

Ashby and Parkin will spearhead the development of the new strategic plan.

Parkin said: “I’ve been supporting the board behind the scenes in an advisory capacity over the past few months. During that time, I’ve come to both admire the business that the team has built and be excited by the potential we have to scale further at home but in particular overseas.” 

He added: “Supported by a new CEO in due course, I’m confident we have the right plan and the right people to accelerate our growth and become the trusted, internationally-recognised brand for parenting around the world.”

The company currently operates over 60 stores in the UK – including 40 concessions in M&S and Next — plus over 30 overseas concessions with partners including El Corte Ingles in Spain, MAP Active in Indonesia, Central Department Store Group in Thailand and Myers in Australia.

In its most recent set of filed accounts, the business reported a 7.1% rise in sales for the 12 months to 31 March 2024 of £154.3 million.

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USITC launches study on ending China PNTR

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USITC launches study on ending China PNTR















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Germany’s Puma’s FY25 sales slide on wholesale reduction

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Germany’s Puma’s FY25 sales slide on wholesale reduction



German sportswear company Puma SE has reported fiscal 2025 (FY25) sales of €7.3 billion (~$8.61 billion), with currency-adjusted revenue declining 8.1 per cent and reported sales falling 13.1 per cent amid unfavourable currency movements. The downturn spanned all regions and product categories, reflecting inventory takebacks, reduced exposure to lower-quality wholesale channels and restrained promotional activity as part of its strategic reset.

Wholesale revenue dropped 12.8 per cent on a currency-adjusted basis to €4.9 billion, while direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales increased 3.4 per cent, lifting the DTC share to 32.4 per cent from 28.9 per cent.

Regionally, sales fell 6.9 per cent in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), 7.4 per cent in Asia-Pacific and 10 per cent in the Americas, with North America driving much of the decline.

Puma has reported sales of €7.3 billion (~$8.61 billion) in FY25, with currency-adjusted revenue down 8.1 per cent amid strategic reset actions.
Wholesale declined while DTC share increased.
Margins contracted and EBIT turned negative, leading to a net loss.
Q4 saw sharper declines across regions and categories.
Puma expects further sales softness and negative EBIT in FY26.

By product segment, footwear sales decreased 7.1 per cent, apparel declined 9.7 per cent and accessories fell 8.5 per cent, although selective growth was observed in running, training and premium sport style lines, Puma said in a press release.

Profitability weakened significantly during the year. Gross margin contracted 260 basis points to 45.0 per cent, impacted by promotional activity, inventory reserves, unfavourable mix and currency effects. Adjusted EBIT turned negative at €165.6 million, while reported EBIT declined to -€357.2 million after €191.6 million in one-off costs related mainly to the cost efficiency programme and goodwill impairments.

Loss from continuing operations widened to -€643.6 million, translating to earnings per share of -€4.37 versus €1.88 in the prior year.

From a balance sheet perspective, inventories rose 2.3 per cent to €2.06 billion as inventory takebacks from wholesale partners supported distribution clean-up. Working capital increased 20.2 per cent, while trade receivables and payables declined sharply in line with reduced sales and purchasing activity. Puma ended the year with additional financing capacity, including €1,202.2 million in unutilised credit lines.

Fourth quarter (Q4) performance reflected the peak impact of the strategic reset. Currency-adjusted sales declined 20.7 per cent to €1,564.9 million, with reported revenue down 27.2 per cent due to currency headwinds. The decline was driven by deliberate reductions in wholesale exposure, inventory clearance actions and lower promotional intensity.

Wholesale sales fell 27.7 per cent in Q4, while DTC revenue decreased 8.0 per cent, although DTC share increased to 41.1 per cent from 35.5 per cent. Regionally, sales dropped 12.6 per cent in Asia-Pacific, 22.2 per cent in the Americas and 24.3 per cent in EMEA.

Across product divisions, footwear sales declined 25.4 per cent, apparel fell 13.7 per cent and accessories dropped 18.2 per cent, with selective resilience in training and performance running categories.

Profitability deteriorated sharply. Gross margin declined to 40.2 per cent from 47.7 per cent due to promotions, inventory provisions and currency effects. Adjusted EBIT fell to -€228.8 million, while reported EBIT reached -€307.7 million following one-off costs linked to restructuring and impairment charges. The quarter ended with a loss from continuing operations of -€335 million.

Arthur Hoeld, CEO of Puma, said: “2025 was a reset year for us. We want to establish Puma as a top 3 sports brand globally, return to above-industry growth and generate healthy profits in the medium term. It is crucial to make the Puma brand less commercial and ensure we once again excite our consumers with attractive products, compelling storytelling and distribution in the right channels. I am satisfied with the progress we have made so far. We cleaned up most of our distribution by reducing promotions in our own channels and cutting our exposure to those wholesale channels that damage our brand’s desirability. To better position our product icons and our performance offering and tell more engaging product stories, we created the right structures inside our company. We also addressed operational inefficiencies and further optimised our cost base.”

Looking ahead, Puma expects currency-adjusted sales in fiscal 2026 to decline in the low- to mid-single-digit percentage range, with EBIT projected between -€50 million and -€150 million. Capital expenditure of around €200 million is planned as the company continues investments in brand repositioning and digital capabilities, added the release.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SG)



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India’s real GDP estimated to grow 7.6% in FY26 under new base FY23

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India’s real GDP estimated to grow 7.6% in FY26 under new base FY23



India’s real gross domestic product (GDP), or GDP at constant prices, is estimated to grow at 7.6 per cent to ₹322.58 trillion (~$3.54 billion) in fiscal 2025-26 (FY26) compared to the first revised GDP estimate of ₹299.89 trillion for FY25 (7.1 per cent growth), according to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which today released the new series of annual and quarterly national accounts estimates with base fiscal 2022-23.

Nominal GDP, or GDP at current prices, is estimated to grow at 8.6 per cent to reach ₹345.47 trillion in FY26 against ₹318.07 trillion in 2024-25.

India’s real GDP is estimated to grow at 7.6 per cent to ₹322.58 trillion (~$3.54 billion) in FY26 compared to the first revised GDP estimate of ₹299.89 trillion for FY25 (7.1 per cent growth).
It released the new series of annual and quarterly national accounts estimates with FY23 base.
Real GVA is projected to grow at 7.7 per cent to reach ₹294.40 trillion in FY26 against ₹273.36 trillion in FY25.

Real gross value added (GVA) is projected to grow at 7.7 per cent to reach ₹294.40 trillion in FY26 against ₹273.36 trillion in FY25 (a 7.3-per cent growth rate).

Nominal GVA is estimated to grow at 8.7 per cent to hit ₹313.61 trillion during FY26, against ₹288.54 lakh crore in 2024-25.

Robust economic performance in FY26 is primarily on account of robust real growth observed in the second quarter (8.4 per cent) and third quarter (7.8 per cent).

The manufacturing sector has been the major driver of resilient performance of the economy the consecutive three fiscals after rebasing, a release from the ministry said.

Both private final consumption expenditure and grossed fixed capital formation exhibited more than 7-per cent growth rate in FY26.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)



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