Mark Derbyshire has been named president of Holt Renfrew, replacing Caryn Lerner as the top executive at the up-market retailer.
“Mark has displayed tremendous leadership and business acumen over the six years he has been with our organization," said W. Galen Weston, chair of the company. “We are confident that he will continue to evolve and grow Holt Renfrew as an international brand and a continued fashion authority in Canada."
Lerner, who was president and CEO, will stay on with Holt’s parent organization, Wittington Fashion Retail Group, as an independent consultant.
A spokesperson confirmed that while Derbyshire will not assume the CEO title, he is the top executive reporting directly to the board, and there are no plans to give anyone the “chief executive" title.
Derbyshire was most recently the chief talent officer for Wittington Fashion Retail Group which, aside from Holt Renfrew, operates luxury retailers Selfridges in the United Kingdom, and Brown Thomas in Ireland.
Prior to that he was VP of human resources with Holt Renfrew from 2004 to 2007. He holds an MBA in marketing and strategic management, and a Ph.D. in organizational behaviour, and was last year named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40.
