After CEO takes group leader role, Charles Tyrwhitt COO becomes managing director

Charles Tyrwhitt’s COO has been promoted to managing director following former CEO Luke Kingsnorth becoming group chief executive at Bectin, the parent company that owns the retailer as well as The White Company.

Rebecca Howat is a long-term leader at the brand having been with the firm for 13 years.

Kingsnorth said of her elevation that she “knows Charles Tyrwhitt inside out, brings huge commercial and operational experience, and has a real understanding of what it takes to lead the business”.

She was previously at Arcadia Group running its merchandising ops and then moved through a series of increasingly senior positions at Charles Tyrwhitt.

Nick Wheeler founded Charles Tyrwhitt in 1986 while still at university with its first store opening on one of London’s premier menswear-focused streets — Jermyn Street — in 1997. It now has 43 stores in Britain, 12 in the US and numerous franchised stores globally.

A few months ago it filed its accounts for the year to August 2025 and said that turnover increased strongly from £305.8 million to £347 million.

Underlying EBITDA jumped from £36.7 million to £55.3 million and as a percentage of turnover that was an increase from 12% to 15.9%. Profit after tax for the period almost doubled from £15.6 million to £29.8 million.

It said the back-to-office trend had helped it but that it was also selling more casualwear having revamped its range in recent years.