New MWH head to focus on product

SYDNEY: M Webster Holdings (MWH)'s new chief executive has unveiled a far reaching agenda with design excellence at its heart.

Appointed in mid-May Rory Scott - whose resume includes four years as head of lingerie for United Kingdom retail giant Marks & Spencer and a stint as CEO of publishing company Australian Geographic - will preside over the company behind David Lawrence, Jigsaw, Marcs and Morrissey.

With former CEO Malcolm Webster focusing on national and international growth in his new role as executive chairman, Scott will oversee a raft of innovations including product enhancement, the wind-down of wholesale businesses, supply chain improvements and retail expansion.

A key task was the enhancement of MWH product, in particular the Marcs and Morrissey brands, acquired late last year from the Oroton Group, Scott confirmed.

"Regarding Marcs, we've recruited a new womenswear designer Rachel Allen whose first ranges will launch in August. Marcs was always about cheerful, fashionable, well-cut clothing but more recently it had become confused about what it was trying to achieve. I think Rachel's handwriting will be well suited to the Marcs brand and give it that consistency."
New Marcs menswear designer, Sarah Brown - formerly of Ted Baker UK - starts July 30, while the Morrissey brand will also benefit from increased focus on design and ranging.

Scott said both Marcs and Morrissey would also claw back brand control with the termination of David Jones wholesale businesses by year end; instead Marcs would operate 20 David Jones concessions, while Morrissey would operate 16 split evenly between women's and menswear.

MWH also planned to grow the presence of all its brands in Queensland and Western Australia, he said.

"Queensland shows strong potential, while the economic boom in Western Australia offers good opportunities, particularly given the development of new retail and shopping centres there."
With supply chain enhancements designed to cut MWH's current six to eight month lead times by around two months, further growth would allow expansion into new brands, Scott claimed.

"We're always on the look out for brands that fit our profile at the higher end of the middle market. The expansion of existing brands is also ongoing, with David Lawrence menswear having launched in April, and we'll certainly be looking for other ways to grow our offering across all our brands."

By Belinda Smart