Shoe Zone appoints Terry Boot to step into finance director role

Shoe Zone has appointed Terry Boot to step into the finance director role, it said on Monday as it showed how the pandemic has hurt profits.

The AIM-listed chain gave the update after it last month said the then finance director, Peter Foot, had left the business.

Boot has previously worked at companies such as footwear firm Brantano UK and jewellery buying business The Company of Master Jewellers.

The appointment came as Shoe Zone, which has over 400 stores across the UK, posted results for the year to October 3.

Although the retailer saw digital revenue surge 82%, store sales were hit due to lockdowns.

Total revenue dropped 24.3% to £122.6 million, and it recorded a £14.6 million pretax loss, compared to a £6.7 million profit a year earlier.

‘Non-essential’retailers are set to reopen from the latest lockdown from April 12. But Shoe Zone warned: “We do not expect profits will return to pre Covid-19 levels for the foreseeable future.”