Luxury handbags maker Mulberry announced on Monday that Charles Anderson, its group finance director, has notified the board of his intention to resign.

Anderson will step down from the board with effect from 31 January 2025 “but will remain supporting the business until 1 August to assist with the handover and transition of the group finance director’s responsibilities, in line with the company’s succession policy”.

The move clearly came as a surprise was the board has only now begun the process to identify a successor, and “a further announcement will be made in due course”.

Chairman Chris Roberts said he’d “like to thank Charles for his valuable contribution to the group over the past five years. His leadership, particularly over the last year, has been instrumental in steering the business through a very challenging period. We wish him every success in his future endeavours.”

And Anderson added: “I would like to thank the board and my colleagues for their support in my time as group finance director. Mulberry is an iconic brand and it has been a privilege to be part of its journey. I am confident that Mulberry is well-positioned for future success and I wish the team all the best in the years ahead.”

Despite the expression of thanks, there’s no denying that the move comes at a tough time for Mulberry, which has struggled with weak results, and as Roberts acknowledged, has just gone through “a very challenging period”.

It’s half-year results released in November saw sales down and losses widening. The company also had to deal with a hostile takeover bid from Frasers Group last year. Frasers failed in its approach because, despite offering a much higher price than the shares were trading for at the time (130p-a-share/£83 million+), the majority shareholder Challice was unwilling to sell.

Mulberry shares were trading at just £1 as the market opened on Monday, giving it a value of little more than £70 million.