By Laura McGuire
The former boss of British fashion brand Ted Baker will join Ocado as rumours swirl about a possible takeover bid
Rachel Osborne stepped down from her role as head of the British fashion brand earlier this month, with a number of other senior board members after Ted Baker was acquired by Authentic Brands for £211m last October.
Authentic Brands, which also owns Forever 21 and Reebok, had plans to convert into a brand licensing business. Its shift meant there was no longer a requirement for a chief executive.
She joined Ted Baker whilst the brand was caught up in an accounting scandal – which saw its stock inventory overstated by £58m.
Osborne has held a cluster of prominent retail roles, including chief financial officer of Debenhams and finance director of John Lewis Division.
Her arrival to the Ocado board as an independent non-executive director comes as the market is speculating that the digital grocer could be taken over by Amazon.
Both Amazon or Ocado have declined to comment.
