WH Smith finance chief set to retire as senior figure at Burberry picked as replacement for role

WH Smith has announced that its chief financial officer, after more than two decades at the business, is set to leave the business, to be replaced by a senior member of high-fashion Burberry.

Robert Moorhead, the current CFO and chief operating officer of WH Smith, will retire from the business. He joined the company in 2004 as finance director of retail. He was appointed to the CFO role in 2008, which was changed to CFO/COO in 2013.

Max Izzard, currently senior vice president of corporate finance at Burberry, will join the company on 1 September. He will be appointed to the board on 1 December after Moorhead steps down on 30 November.

While Moorhead will step down from the board, he will remain an employee of the company until 28 February 2025 to assist in the successful transition to Izzard as CFO.

Izzard has held a variety of senior roles there over the last six years including holding several senior commercial and group finance roles at IHG Hotels and Resorts (IHG).

He is set to receive a base salary of £450,000, a pension allowance of 3 per cent of base salary, along with being will be eligible to receive a maximum annual bonus of up to 150 per cent of salary and an annual long-term incentive plan award of 300 per cent of salary.

Moorhead said: “it has been both a pleasure and an honour to have worked at WH Smith over the last 20 years.”

While commenting on his new role, Izzard said: “I am delighted to be joining as CFO of WH Smith. I have admired the transformation of the business and I am excited to be joining one of the world’s leading travel retailers.”