Peter Lucas
Chairman & Chief Executive
Peter joined John Collier in 1977 from the British Shoe
Corporation and, as Personnel Director, was part of its
management buyout in1982. On the acquisition of the business
by Burtons, in1986, he became responsible for manufacturing &
sales activity. In1989 he was appointed Managing Director of
William Baird menswear operations, and in March 1995 became
a member of the PLC board. He was also Chief Executive of
Baird Menswear Brands and Chairman of Melka-Tenson, Van Gils,
Lowe Alpine and Baird Corporatewear before leading the
buyout of the menswear divisions in 2000. Peter is now
Chairman of the UK Fashion & Textile Association, a Director of
the British Fashion Council, and the Chairman of Al Arafa for
Investment in Marketing & Distribution.
Mark Cotter
Group Managing Director
Mark joined BMB in 1999 from Sears Women's wear where he had been Buying and Merchandising Director for five years. Prior to this, Mark was in a variety of roles with the Arcadia Group. With a finance degree, M.B.A and 20 years in retail management, his brief working with Peter is to develop Baird into the pre-eminent menswear retail and wholesale business in its sector
Richard Paul
Group Finance Director
Richard joined Baird Group in October 2008. A psychology
graduate and Chartered Accountant, Richard has experience in
businesses strategy and M&A. Richard trained with Price
Waterhouse in Leeds, followed by spells at Nestlé Rowntree in
York and LINPAC where he handled a number of start-ups and
acquisitions that contributed to the growth of the business, and
participated in the buy-out of the Group in 2003. He is also
responsible for bringing together BMB and various businesses
acquired by Arafa Holdings in Europe including: Melka, SRG and
Worth Valley under The Baird Group, and for putting in place the
required controls, processes, and platform for the Group to grow.
