Bartmess to leave troubled Dawson

DAWSON International chief executive Andy Bartmess is leaving by "mutual agreement" as the scaled-down business seeks to reduce costs and focus efforts on cutting its £19.2 million pension deficit.

The Kinross-based cashmere group said Bartmess had resigned from the board with immediate effect and would leave the company at the end of this month. He is expected to return to the US, where he originally worked for Dawson in Boston and has family living in Arizona.

His duties will be absorbed by David Bolton, who is assuming the expanded role of executive chairman. Jim Carrie, currently managing director of Barrie Knitwear in Hawick, becomes Dawson's chief operating officer.

Bolton said Bartmess had led the company through "challenging times" during the past few of his 14 years at Dawson. The company - which is struggling with rising raw material prices and protracted pension negotiations - sold off its Todd & Duncan spinning business last year and recently completed the drawn-out disposal of its Dorma branded home furnishings division.

"Over the last 12 to 18 months, Andy has led us through some pretty significant transformations and disposals, leaving us with a much smaller operation," Bolton said yesterday. The board must take account of that, and we have to review the cost base of the group in that context."

Bartmess had been earning a basic salary of 217,000. Bolton said the departing chief executive would leave with a "standard" redundancy package, but declined to give further details.

Dawson now employs about 250 people, including 160 at Barrie, 60 at its remaining private label home furnishings business, and 30 at Dawson Forte in the US. Three weeks ago, the group reported expanded first-half losses of 352,000 on turnover which slid 4 per cent to 2.74m.