Burberry 2024: Jonathan Akeroyd out, Joshua Schulman in — the FTSE-listed luxury house resets after FY24 operating profit fell 36% to £418M
Burberry Group plc (LSE: BRBY) ended fiscal 2024 (year to March 30, 2024) with revenue of £2.97 billion, down 4%, and adjusted operating profit of £418 million — down 36% year-on-year. CEO Jonathan Akeroyd had taken the role in March 2022 from Versace, brought in chief creative officer Daniel Lee from Bottega Veneta (joined October 3, 2022), and tried to push Burberry up-market alongside the broader European luxury houses. The strategy underperformed. The company issued profit warnings in January 2024 (cutting guidance to £410–460M from £552–668M) and then a sharper warning in July 2024. On July 15, 2024, the board announced Joshua Schulman as the new CEO; Akeroyd left by mutual agreement with immediate effect. Schulman, who joined on July 17, 2024, had been CEO of Michael Kors (2021–2022) and Brand President of Coach (2017–2020), CEO of Jimmy Choo (2007–2012), and President of Bergdorf Goodman for five years before Jimmy Choo. The company subsequently announced a 'Burberry Forward' strategy emphasizing outerwear, scarves, and accessible-luxury price points.
- Story: Burberry Group plc (LSE: BRBY) ended fiscal 2024 (year to March 30, 2024) with £2.97B revenue (down 4%) and £418M adjusted operating profit (down 36% YoY). CEO Jonathan Akeroyd had taken over March 2022 from Versace and brought in Daniel Lee from Bottega Veneta as Chief Creative Officer (joined October 3, 2022). They tried to push Burberry up-market. The strategy underperformed: a January 2024 profit warning cut FY24 guidance to £410-460M from £552-668M, then a July 2024 warning flagged H1 FY25 operating losses.
- Why it matters: On July 15, 2024 the Burberry board replaced Akeroyd with Joshua Schulman — former Coach Brand President, Michael Kors CEO, and Jimmy Choo CEO — effective July 17. Schulman's subsequent 'Burberry Forward' strategy explicitly repositioned the brand back toward accessible-luxury heritage (outerwear, scarves) rather than ultra-luxury aspiration. The case is studied as luxury brand-equity misjudgment: pricing-and-positioning above what the brand actually supports.
- Takeaway: Daniel Lee (joined Oct 3, 2022 from Bottega Veneta) was retained through the CEO change — Schulman explicitly named working alongside him.
- Takeaway: FY24 revenue down 4%, operating profit down 36% — that gap is characteristic of a brand stretching above its supportable price point on fixed retail/marketing costs.
- Takeaway: Schulman's track record at Coach (2017-2020) was the basis for the appointment; his Coach repositioning had been studied as the model for accessible-luxury brand recovery.
The Burberry 2024 reset
Burberry's 2024 reset
Quick facts
The Akeroyd–Daniel Lee strategy (2022–2024)
Jonathan Akeroyd was hired in March 2022 from Versace. In his first major creative decision he replaced Riccardo Tisci with Daniel Lee, the British designer who had spent 2018–2021 at Bottega Veneta and become known for the Pouch handbag and a quiet-luxury aesthetic that drove ~8.9% comparable revenue growth there. Lee joined on October 3, 2022 and presented his Burberry debut at London Fashion Week in February 2023. The strategy aimed to push Burberry upward in price and prestige, closer to Louis Vuitton or Prada in positioning, while still leaning on the trench-coat and check-pattern heritage. It coincided with — and was hurt by — the broader 2023–2024 slowdown in luxury demand, particularly in China.
- Strategic ambition: Burberry under Akeroyd publicly targeted £4B revenue heading toward £5B in the medium term.
- FY2024 result: Revenue £2.97B, down 4%; adjusted operating profit £418M, down 36% — a substantial gap to plan.
- Wholesale exit pressure: H1 FY25 wholesale revenue guided to decline ~25% — the channel rationalization the prior strategy had already started became a headwind during a slowdown.
- January 2024 profit warning: Burberry cut FY24 operating-profit guidance from £552–668M to £410–460M.
- July 2024 profit warning: The company flagged H1 FY25 operating losses, suspended dividend payments, and announced the Akeroyd–Schulman CEO change on the same day.
The July 15, 2024 CEO change
On July 15, 2024 Burberry announced that Joshua Schulman would join as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director on July 17, 2024, based in London. Jonathan Akeroyd left the company by mutual agreement with the board, with immediate effect. Chair Gerry Murphy framed the change around Schulman's track record building accessible-luxury brands — Coach, Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo, Bergdorf Goodman. In Schulman's own statement he committed to working alongside Daniel Lee, signaling that the creative-direction change of October 2022 would be preserved while the commercial strategy reset.
- Joshua Schulman: American, age 52, based in London from July 2024. Previously CEO of Michael Kors (2021–2022), CEO and Brand President of Coach (2017–2020), CEO of Jimmy Choo (2007–2012), and President of Bergdorf Goodman for five years.
- Other Schulman roles: Earlier at Yves Saint Laurent as EVP Worldwide Merchandising and Sales, and at Gucci as Worldwide Director of Women's Ready-to-Wear. Education: NYU and Parsons School of Design.
- Daniel Lee retained: Schulman's appointment statement explicitly named working alongside Lee as part of the next chapter — the creative chair was not changed at the same time.
- Akeroyd departure structure: 'Mutual agreement,' immediate effect, no transition period. Burberry's press release credited him with setting out a clear strategy and thanked him for his contribution.
What the FY24 numbers actually showed
Stripping the strategic narrative out for a moment, the FY24 numbers tell a specific story: revenue down moderately, but operating profit down by more than a third. That kind of gap is characteristic of a brand with substantial fixed retail and marketing investments — pricing-up didn't carry the volumes needed to keep the operating leverage positive. Burberry's H1 FY25 guidance (operating losses; wholesale down ~25%) suggested the issue was structural at the price point, not just macro luxury softness. That's the diagnostic Schulman inherited.
Frequently asked questions
What did Burberry actually announce on July 15, 2024?
Two things on the same day: a profit warning that H1 FY25 would swing to operating losses with wholesale down around 25%, and the CEO change replacing Jonathan Akeroyd (immediate effect, mutual agreement) with Joshua Schulman (start date July 17, 2024). Burberry also suspended dividend payments in the same announcement cycle.
Is Daniel Lee staying at Burberry?
As of Schulman's appointment in July 2024, yes. Schulman's own statement specifically named Lee in describing the next phase. The CEO change did not include a creative-director change. Whether Lee's tenure continues longer-term depends on commercial results under the revised Schulman strategy.
What is Joshua Schulman's relevant background?
Schulman was Brand President and then CEO of Coach (2017–2020), where he ran the accessible-luxury repositioning that revitalized the brand. He then served as CEO of Michael Kors (2021–2022). Before Coach he was CEO of Jimmy Choo (2007–2012) and President of Bergdorf Goodman for five years. The thread across all of those roles is accessible-luxury and prestige-retail operations — which is what Burberry's board appears to be steering back toward after the Akeroyd up-market push.
Why did the Akeroyd strategy fail?
Two compounding issues: pricing was raised aggressively into territory where Burberry's brand equity competed with Louis Vuitton, Prada and other ultra-luxury houses that have stronger leather-goods scale and longer history at those prices; and the 2023–2024 China slowdown removed the customer cushion that aspirational price increases needed. The FY24 36% operating-profit decline reflects both. Burberry's wholesale exit during the same period also reduced flexibility.
What is the "Burberry Forward" strategy?
A reset strategy under Schulman emphasizing Burberry's outerwear heritage (the trench coat, scarves), broader accessible-luxury price points, and cost discipline — explicitly distinct from the up-market push of the Akeroyd era. As of mid-2024 the program was announced but commercial results were still pending. Specific multi-year targets should be cross-checked against Burberry's investor-relations announcements before being quoted.
Sources & references
- Burberry appoints Joshua Schulman as Chief Executive Officer (Burberry plc press release, July 15, 2024) — Primary source for CEO transition, Schulman background, and Daniel Lee continuity.
- Burberry Hires Daniel Lee to Replace Riccardo Tisci as Designer (Bloomberg, September 28, 2022) — Coverage of Daniel Lee's appointment and Bottega Veneta tenure.
- Burberry (BRBY) Full Year 2024 results (WWD) — WWD coverage of FY24 revenue and profit decline.
- Burberry profit plunges 36% amid challenging luxury market (Retail Gazette) — Retail Gazette reporting the 36% operating-profit decline.
- Burberry issues early profit warning (Fashion Dive) — Coverage of the January 2024 profit warning and guidance cut.
- Daniel Lee (Wikipedia) — Biographical detail on Lee's career.