C&A axes four out of seven top management executives in Europe

C&A lays off half of its top management team in Europe. The Dutch fashion company has announced the dismissal of four high-rank executives of the group, which will be leaded by three people from now onwards: Alain Caparros as chief executive officer, Martijn van der Zee as sales director and Tjeerd van der Zee as head of operations.

The decision taken by C&A has led to the departure of Bart Brenninkmeijer, Frank Beeck, Andreas Seitz and Manfred Mandel, with immediate effect, according to Textilwirtschaft. Beeck, a former Mango executive, joined C&A in December 2017 as the company’s second director of operations for Europe. He supervised the development of this business area with Bart Brenninkmeijer, a member of the founding family of the company, who will maintain a seat on the board of directors.

On the other hand, Andreas Seitz was in charge of merchandising and human resources area of C&A in Europe. He accepted the challenge in February 2018 and also occupied a seat on the board. Manfred Mandel, meanwhile, was head of marketing in the region.

C&A will have a three-headed top management team in Europe, leaded by Alain Caparros as chief executive officer

C&A’s move comes as the company continues its restructuring process in the continent, which began in early 2017 after an overall sales decline in the last few years, which led to the closure of several unprofitable stores.

Despite a challenging situation, the group ended last fiscal year with a sales growth of 4%, boosted by a positive performance in the centre and eastern European markets. Ecommerce revenues went up by 14% compared to the previous year.