Regatta's finance chief quits to take same role at Sosandar from September

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 26, 2020

Fast-growing womenswear e-tailer Sosandar said on Friday that Stephen Dilks is joining it as Finance Director. He’ll take over from James Bowling, Head of Finance, “who has decided to step down to pursue other opportunities”.

He starts on September 7 and will work with his predecessor until Bowling leaves on September 18 “to ensure an orderly handover”.

Dilks joins after spending 11 years with Regatta, the outdoor apparel business, including for the last five years as Finance Director. The company said he’s supported Regatta’s “consistent double-digit growth across multiple brands, countries and channels including wholesale, own retail, concessions and online”. He’s been “the finance lead for several key strategic projects, including the group's Brexit planning and the implementation of group-wide new IT systems”.

Before this he worked in retail and FMCG, including Kraft Foods and The Co-Operative Group.

He’s expected to be appointed to the board “once he has settled into his new role, subject to the satisfactory completion of the necessary regulatory requirements”.

Co-CEOs Ali Hall and Julie Lavington said Bowling “has been an integral part of Sosandar's journey so far, both in the early days, through our listing and our tremendous growth and development since. We are incredibly grateful for all the hard work he put into the business and take this opportunity to wish him well in his future endeavours”.

They added that they’re "very pleased to be welcoming Stephen to the company. His extensive knowledge of finance and operations in a growing retail brand will be invaluable through our journey ahead. Notwithstanding the current environment, the opportunity for Sosandar is significant. With his experience across brands and markets, Stephen is well placed to work alongside us to deliver continued growth and shareholder value going forward”.