Topps Tiles boss retires as company returns to sales growth
Rob Parker said he will leave the company less than two months after its biggest investor called for a leadership review.
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Your support makes all the difference.The boss of Topps Tiles has said he is retiring after 18 years at the retailer, as the company said it has returned to sales growth.
Rob Parker announced he is leaving the business less than two months after its biggest investor called for a leadership review.
Mr Parker is likely remain in post until late this year, after a successor has been found, the company said.
It comes after top investor MS Galleon, which owns a 30% stake in Topps Tiles, called for a leadership review in November.
The investment firm pointed to slumping sales at the time and claimed management had made a raft of “strategic missteps”.
But Topps’ trading update on Wednesday revealed that it had returned to growth, as sales during the three months to December 28 rose 4.6% compared with the same period last year.
Topps is the biggest tile retailer in the UK and employs thousands of people across its 300 stores.
Founded in Leicester in 1963, it has since grown to dominate the market for tiles in the UK. It also owns Pro Tiler, a tiling supplies business.
The sales growth was driven by a sharp increase of 12.9% during the shorter Christmas period, covering the five weeks from Black Friday to Boxing Day.
Mr Parker said the sales growth was partly down to Topps’ attempts to grow its online operation.
The lack of online sales was one reason for MS Galleon’s complaint in November – it wrote that Topps is “predominantly a bricks and mortar business with a poorly optimised store portfolio”.
The investor also criticised Topps’ recent acquisition of CTD Tiles, condemning the move as “unequivocally irrational” and “highly detrimental to the interest of the company”.
Topps Tiles bought CTD’s brand, 30 stores, some of its stock and two distribution sites out of administration in August 2024.
The Competition and Markets Authority is currently investigating the deal, with an initial ruling due on February 17.
Mr Parker joined Topps in 2007 and served as its chief financial officer for 12 years before taking the top job in 2019.
Chairman Paul Forman said the chief executive had made “an enormous contribution to the development and success of the business over the last 18 years”.
He added that Mr Parker “led the group through a particularly volatile period for the UK economy, including the Covid pandemic”.