Farewell cards ahead as founder of Clinton moves out of the chair

Clinton Cards today said its founder Don Lewin is to step down as chairman in July after the greetings card retailer sank to a half-year loss.

The performance of the group, which operates 628 Clintons shops, was heavily dragged down by its struggling Birthdays chain, which delivered an operating loss of £4.4 million over the half-year to 29 January.

The loss at the 139-store chain explains why Clinton Cards put the struggling discount retailer up for sale this month by hiring Ernst & Young. GA Europe, the retail restructuring specialist, is understood to be monitoring the situation at Birthdays. Clinton Cards, whose chief executive is Darcy Willson-Rymer, posted a loss of £3.67 million over the half year, compared with a profit of £11.7 million for the same period a year ago. The group’s revenues fell by 5% to £197.2 million while sales fell by 1.1% on a like-for-like basis.

Lewin, who opened his first store in 1968 in Epping, Essex, will step down as non-executive chairman at its year end on July 31.