Gav Thompson has left Boden, just over a year after he was appointed to the newly created role of chief customer officer at the fashion brand.
Thompson, who was appointed by former chief executive Jill Easterbrook to lead marketing, customer experience and service, said now was the right time to step away.
Easterbrook, a former chief customer officer and group business transformation director at Tesco, resigned from Boden at the end of 2019 after three years.
It is understood that there are no plans to replace Thompson and responsibility for marketing will be handled internally.
"Gav was hired by Jill to do a very big new role, uniting all of our customer-facing aspects of the company. Sadly, following Jill’s departure, Gav has decided that now isn’t quite the right time for him to bring to life some of his ideas and plans for Boden," Johnnie Boden, founder of Boden, said.
"I will miss Gav immensely. He is a big thinker, he has an amazing instinct for brands and a deep passion for the customer. He leaves us with large shoes to fill, so we won’t be replacing him directly, but his responsibilities will be shared out amongst his existing exec colleagues."
Thompson spent seven years at O2 and Telefónica until 2014, working in a series of positions including global director of business innovation. He has also held senior roles at martech company Thunderhead, Paddy Power and digital estate agent Yopa.
He said: "I love the Boden brand and have deep respect and admiration for Johnnie and the team. I have had a lot of fun during my time at Boden and have learned an enormous amount too.
"However, timing in life is everything, and with Jill leaving and with the market being as crunchy and tactical as it is, I wasn’t sure whether the planets were fully aligned with my hopes and dreams for the Boden brand.
"I will miss the joy and energy of Boden and my fabulous team, and wish them lots of well-deserved success in the future."
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