Harvey Nichols has faced tough conditions in recent years but it’s now hoping for a better time ahead with the announcement of a new CEO.

Julia Goddard is its new top executive and will take up the reins in June, as well as joining the board, moving from Kering’s Alexander McQueen label where she’s spent the last 14 years.

Owner-Chairman Dickson Poon and Vice-Chairman Pearson Poon called her a “dynamic business leader with a strong track record of delivering quality growth and successfully developing and executing a very important customer (VIC) clientelling strategy. Her expertise and strategic capabilities will be invaluable in delivering long-term sustainable growth for Harvey Nichols”.

Goddard’s most recent role at McQueen has been president of EMEA, a post she’s been in since 2019 and that has seen her spearheading wholesale and retail growth there. That has included the opening of flagships in key shopping destination cities such as London, Paris, Milan, Rome, Dubai, Kuwait and Qatar. 

Harvey Nichols has been without a permanent CEO since the departure of company veteran Manju Malhotra back in August 2023 with the firm led by Pearson Poon since then.

There had been reports that Malhotra had strategy disagreements with the firm’s owners, although these were denied.

It’s clear that Goddard has a big job on her hands with Harvey Nichols struggling to regain its former prominence and facing intense competition in the vital London market from luxury department store rivals such as Harrods nearby and Selfridges in the West End.

But Harvey Nichols is more than just its Knightsbridge, London flagship and Goddard will need to kick-start growth in a wide variety of locations. It also has branches in Leeds, Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Dublin, Hong Kong, Dubai, Riyadh, Kuwait and Doha, plus a dedicated beauty store in Liverpool.

Last month it became the latest department store retailer to announce job cuts with a disproportionately large number of jobs at risk at its London HQ.

But its performance has been improving, even though it remains shaky. The company said that in the year to 1 April 2023, revenues rose and losses shrank. Revenues were up 13% at £216.6 million and its pre-tax loss was £21.3 million, smaller than the £30.4 million recorded for the previous 12 months.

Goddard is understandably upbeat about her new job and said that she sees “opportunities within this iconic brand [that] fill me with excitement and enthusiasm. I very much look forward to working with the team to accelerate growth and strengthen the position of Harvey Nichols”.