Boohoo enlists former THG Beauty CEO for attempted coup at Revolution Beauty

Boohoo wants to add former THG Beauty CEO Rachel Horsefield to Revolution Beauty’s Board of Directors, as it looks to remove three of the cosmetic retailer's top bosses. 

Horsefield joined THG in 2016 as Managing Director. She later served as Head of Ecommerce for the Prestige Division, before taking on the role of Beauty CEO in 2017 until the second half of 2022.

In a statement, Boohoo said: "Rachel brings with her a wealth of direct relevant experience and expertise in the beauty sector.

"Boohoo continues to strongly believe that a senior leadership team with the right retail, e-commerce and consumer brands experience is required to deliver value for all shareholders and take Revolution Beauty into its next phase, which must focus on growth."

Earlier this week, Boohoo announced its plans to vote against the reappointment of Revolution Beauty’s CEO Bob Holt, Chairman Derek Zissman and CFO Elizabeth Lake at the firm’s upcoming annual general meeting for shareholders on 27 June 2023.

It requested to replace the three bosses with Boohoo Non-Executive Director and former New Look Chairman Alistair McGeorge as Interim Executive Chairman, and ex-Boohoo finance boss Neil Catto as CFO.

In response to this, Revolution Beauty yesterday issued a statement sharing that "Boohoo's hostile requisition is value-destructive, opportunistic and self-serving, as well as not being in the interests of the company's shareholders as a whole".

Revolution Beauty said it is currently "trading well" and expects to deliver high single-digit growth in revenue for the year ending 28 February 2024.

It also acknowledged that the current directors and management team have navigated Revolution Beauty out of the chaos arising from the historical management and governance issues within the business.

Revolution Beauty has seen its shares suspended since September last year after auditors refused to sign off its accounts for the last financial year, which sparked an investigation into its finances.

In January, the independent investigation found Revolution Beauty had inflated sales by £9 million to meet annual targets and unearthed concerns with the group’s accounts, including claims that personal loans were made by Co-founders Adam Minto and Tom Allsworth to an employee and distributors.

The probe also alleged that insufficient checks had been made on acquisitions.

On Tuesday, Revolution Beauty revealed possible legal action against its founder and former chief executive Adam Minto. The group said it sent a letter of claim to Minto last month alleging that he breached his duties to the firm.