As reported on www.ragtrader.com.au, Nankervis, who served as managing director and co-founded Busbrand in 2002, relinquished his role earlier this month. This has made way for newcomer Andrew Bousie to take over as CEO.
Despite describing his departure from Busbrand as “bittersweet”, Nankervis has accepted a role as the vice president of international franchising and global business development at American Eagle Outfitters Limited in the US. American Eagle currently operates apparel, footwear and accessories brands Aerie, Martin + Osa, and 77kids in addition to its namesake label.
Nankervis said the role, which will see him develop the American Eagle portfolio of brands internationally, was a poignant career move with the added allure of establishing an international strategy for a large successful retailer.
“This move to the USA is my future and the focus of my career,” he said. “After nine years at the helm of Busbrand, I was presented with an opportunity to move to a large US retailer in a senior position, and it is the logical progression for my career to get experience with the ‘big end of town’.
“If you want an international career within retail there are only two places where you can seriously contemplate working if you want to be at the forefront of what is happening within large format retail – the USA and UK.”
However, Nankervis will remain linked to Busbrand via a new role as non-executive director at the company. The position will see Nankervis become one of three non-executive directors on the Busbrand board who are not involved in the day-to-day running of business but rather, monitor the executive activity and contribute to the development of strategy of the Group.
“As managing director of Busbrand, I was responsible for all retail operations, marketing and brand relationships/licensing. As a Non-executive Director I will now not be involved in the day-day running of the business, but I will continue to provide assistance on the strategic direction of the Group in Australia,” he said.
Busbrand is the parent company of Busby Trading, Busbrand and Brand Republic, and operates apparel, footwear and accessories labels Aldo, Guess, Gap, Travelite and Tumi in the Australian market.
Daniela Aroche