The Rank Group has named Richard Harris its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Board Director.

Harris joins Rank from Foxtons Group, a London estate agency, where he has served as CFO since June 2019. He will replace Rank’s current CFO Bill Floydd, who has resigned to join British retailer Watches of Switzerland for a reported £380,000 ($503,462) salary.

There was speculation that Rank’s disappointing financial performance played a part in Floydd’s departure, an issue that its incoming CFO will have to confront. However, Rank is hoping that Harris can do for it what he did for Foxtons.

During his time there, he helped the estate agency navigate the financial impact of Covid-19, led a broad range of M&A activities and delivered significant cost improvements across the business. Before this, Harris was Group Financial Controller for Laird, and held various senior finance roles at Marks and Spencer.

“I am delighted to announce Richard’s appointment as our incoming Group CFO,” said Rank CEO John O’Reilly.

“His extensive experience across a number of senior financial and operational roles will be invaluable as we continue to deliver the next phase of Rank’s transformation plan. I look forward to welcoming Richard into the group in 2022.”

Simon Hay, Rank’s current Director of Group Finance, will serve as interim CFO from 1 January 2022 until Harris assumes the role in May.

“I am delighted to be joining Rank at this exciting time in the group’s journey,” remarked Harris. “I have enjoyed meeting various members of the team and look forward to working closely with them, John and the Board to deliver the group’s strategy.”