Retail executive Elle Roseby has tabled her resignation from Adairs, where she has been CEO since January 2025.
Roseby’s career prior to Adairs spanned the fashion retail sector, including starting at Myer as a buyer in 1987 and moving through different accounts for the next several years, including leading Miss Shop.
She was then named CEO of Sportsgirl in 1997, a role she held until 2013. Roseby then led Supre and continued her executive leadership at Country Road Group, leading Country Road as managing director.
Roseby confirmed she will stay in her CEO and MD role at Adairs until March 2027, helping the board with her succession.
Amid her exit, Adairs has appointed Rachel Taylor to the newly created role of executive GM of Adairs. Taylor joined Adairs in August 2025 as GM of customer and brand, having previously been GM of digital for Cotton On, managing eCommerce and digital channels globally.
Over the past six months, she has progressively assumed broader leadership responsibilities across the Adairs business.
Her appointment will formalise and expand that role, Adairs noted, and provide continuity of leadership for the Adairs business through the group CEO transition.
The role of group CFO, held by Matt Edmonds, will also be expanded to include a number of functional areas currently overseen at group level, and he will take the title of group chief financial officer and operations director.
Adairs chair Trent Peterson said Roseby has led an important transformation of the group, including building a stronger leadership team and strengthening the foundations of each of the group’s subsidiaries.
“We are hugely appreciative of her leadership, and of the energy and commitment she continues to bring,” Peterson said.
“Looking ahead, the board is confident in the leadership in place at group level and across each of our businesses, and in the group’s direction. With Elle continuing to lead the business and supporting the transition, we are well placed to maintain momentum through an orderly change in leadership.”
Roseby said it has been a privilege to lead the Adairs Group.
“I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved together,” she said. “Adairs, Mocka and Focus on Furniture now form an exciting platform for the future, built on the people and leadership capability we have developed across the hroup – talented, passionate people who care deeply about our customers and our brands.
“There is still plenty to do, and my focus over the coming months is firmly on delivering our priorities, supporting Rachel in her expanded role and ensuring an orderly transition.”
On the appointment of Rachel Taylor to the executive GM role, Roseby said Taylor is a highly capable leader who knows the Adairs business, the team and the customers well.
“This appointment formalises the broader leadership role she has been performing over the past six months, and I’m delighted to see her step into it.”