Watches of Switzerland chair steps down

Watches of Switzerland chairman Dennis Millard stepped down on Thursday, telling the luxury watch chain he would not seek re-election to the board at its forthcoming annual meeting.

The company said it had started searching for a successor. Millard would stay in post until the AGM on October 14, but would be available until December 2020 to facilitate the transition to a new chair. Senior independent director Tea Colaianni has been put forward as interim chair from the close of the AGM.

Millard said: “In the two years I have chaired the company it has seamlessly and efficiently transitioned from private to public ownership, has put in place effective governance structures and has built a strong and supportive shareholder base following the highly successful IPO in June last year.”

“The group has continued to grow robustly and navigated the COVID-19 lockdown with great skill, emerging stronger than ever.”