Watches of Switzerland Group’s chief financial officer retires

Watches of Switzerland Group has lost another member of its dream team as chief financial officer Anders Romberg joins former chief operating officer Tony Broderick in retirement.

Mr Broderick left last year after a 40 year career with the group, and in March took up a non-executive director for Lunn’s in Northern Ireland.

Mr Romberg joined WoSG (then known as Aurum Holdings) in 2014, the same year as CEO Brian Duffy and two years after it was acquired by private equity firm Apollo Global Management.

Group turnover was around £380 million at the time.

Since 2014, turnover has risen to £905.1 million, for the pandemic ravaged financial year ended May 2021.

During the tenure of Mr Anders, WoSG acquired Mayors in the United States and embarked on a dramatic expansion of multibrand and monobrand stores in the country and went public on the London Stock Exchange in 2019.

A bull run for WoSG stock since April last year has seen the value of the group rise to almost £2.5 billion.

Mr Anders will be succeeded in the role of CFO by Bill Floydd after a handover period.

Mr Floydd joins from The Rank Group, a FTSE 250 casino, leisure, and entertainment group, where he has held the role of CFO since November 2018.

“On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Anders for the significant contribution he has made to the business as our CFO since 2014, including to our successful IPO in 2019 and subsequent growth as a listed company. Personally I would like to add that Anders has been a strong partner to me and has played a key leadership role in the transformation of our business. Anders leaves the Group in a strong financial position and we wish him all the very best for the future,” Mr Duffy says.

Mr Romberg says of his retirement: “I have greatly enjoyed being part of the Watches of Switzerland Group during a transformational period in the company’s history. Working alongside Brian and the entire organisation through an investment-driven transformation period and a successful IPO two years ago has been a career highlight. I will leave behind an immensely capable and hard-working team which I have no doubt will continue to deliver on the Group’s strategic priorities and long-range growth plan.”