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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
World
Jon Robinson

JD Sports hands former top boss £5.5m after sudden resignation

The former top boss at retail giant JD Sports has been handed a £5.5m exit deal.

The Bury-headquartered group has agreed the financial package with its old executive chairman Peter Cowgill who resigned with immediate effect in May.

At the time, the move described "as a consequence of an ongoing review of its internal governance and controls" and a decision to "accelerate the separation" of the roles of chair and chief executive.

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The group, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, said Mr Cowgill has been paid his salary, contractual benefits and will be eligible for any appropriate annual bonus, subject to usual performance conditions, for the period up to May 25, 2022.

The terms of the deal will see Mr Cowgill be paid £3.5m over two years for agreeing to certain limits and £2m over three years to act as a consultant.

JD Sports said: "This agreement ensures that both Andy Higginson and Régis Schultz receive his continuous support and assistance as they transition in their new roles, and more importantly give ongoing access to his unparalleled knowledge and experience in building JD into the successful company that it is today."

Mr Cowgill's departure came after JD Sports was hit with a £4.3m fine following a secret meeting with Footasylum CEO Barry Bown.

Chairman Andy Higginson said: "I am pleased that we have been able to reach this amicable and constructive way forward with Peter covering the next three years.

"Peter has hugely valuable experience built over 18 years which we do not want to lose and both Régis and I are delighted to be able to benefit from his considerable talent and advice.

"This caps off what, by any measure, has been a remarkable period of executive leadership by Peter who has been such a core part of the business's incredible success story to date.

"We are pleased to have settled the terms of his departure and more importantly, to have secured a seamless handover and access to his decades of experience, whilst best protecting our commercial interests.

"Having now separated the roles of chair and CEO, recruited a new CEO who brings a strong international and digital track record, as well as locking in the knowledge and experience of Peter, JD is well positioned for a period of continued commercial outperformance underpinned by strong corporate governance."

In June, BusinessLive revealed that Mr Cowgill had been in line for his JD Sports salary to swell to more than £900,000 before his sudden resignation.

JD Sports is now run by new CEO Régis Schultz and chairman Andy Higginson.

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