Terry Boot replaces Peter Foot at Shoe Zone
Terry Boot will step into the position of finance chief at Shoe Zone after his predecessor Peter Foot walked away from the role.
Mr Boot has previously worked at companies including footwear firm Brantano UK and most recently ran The Company of Master Jewellers.
The AIM-listed chain, which has 430 stores in the UK, announced last month that its then finance director Mr Foot had stepped down from the company after seven months in the role.
The firm posted a drop in sales of 24.3pc to £122.6m for the year to the end of October mostly because of successive store closures as a "non-essential" retailer.
Shoe Zone made a pre-tax loss of £14.6m compared with a £6.7m profit the year before. It also suspended its dividend until it can repay £12m of debt, which it does not expect to be until 2025 at the earliest.
The company said it had been debt-free for 15 years until the pandemic hit. It shut 50 stores in the year and opened 10 new outlets in different locations. Online orders soared by 82pc to £19.3m.
Its defined pension schemes also have a deficit of £10.6m, which it is hoping to fix before resuming shareholder payouts. It expects to be profitable again by October 2022 at the earliest.
Anthony Smith, chief executive, said he was disappointed to report on a year affected by Covid after two years in charge, but there were green shoots such as the growth of the online arm.
Shares fell 7.5pc in afternoon trading, valuing the company at just under £35m.
