The boss of Leicester-founded Topps Tiles has confirmed he will retire from the business. Rob Parker has steered the firm for 18 years and has just led it through a period which saw it return to sales growth.
Mr Parker announced he is leaving the business less than two months after its biggest investor called for a leadership review. He is likely remain in post until late this year, after a successor has been found, the company said.
News of his retirement comes after top investor MS Galleon, which owns a 30 per cent 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”.
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However, in a trading update on Wednesday (January 8), the firm, whose headquarters are in Enderby’s Grove Park, revealed that it had returned to growth. Sales during the three months to Saturday, December 28 rose 4.6 per cent 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 per cent 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 last year. The Competition and Markets Authority is currently investigating the deal, with an initial ruling due on next month.
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”.
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