The SurfStitch Group, owner of Swell, Surfdome and Stab Magazine, has added a former Quiksilver heavy hitter to its board of directors.
The company is reconfiguring its board as it strives to turnaround the business after a very rocky 2016.
Harry Hodge joined the board earlier this month as non-executive director. He was the founder of Quiksilver Europe and served as CEO, Chairman and Director of that group from 1984 to 2004.
He was on the board of directors of Quiksilver Inc. for nine years when the company was publicly traded on the NYSE.
“(Harry) has lead a number of mergers and acquisitions and IPO processes, and has implemented strong corporate governance and risk management systems,” said SurfStitch Chairman Sam Weiss. “Harry’s experience will be invaluable to the board as it continues with the strategic review of SurfStitch.”
In other board changes, Lex Pedersen, a founder of SurfStitch, and Justin Stone, the founder of Surfdome, will step down from the board to focus on their executive roles.
Two other board members, Stephan Goddard and Jane Huxley, are also exiting the board.
The company will conduct a search for new board members, but with the goal of having a smaller board. Previously the board had six members, according to the SurfStitch website.
SurfStitch announced the changes earlier this month, and we are catching up on the news.
SurfStitch had a very challenging 2016 and continues to battle the impacts of the sudden departure of its CEO in March, wildly optimistic projections that never materialized, a plunging stock price, lawsuits, an Australian Securities Commission investigation, and unsolicited takeover offers – in addition to a challenging marketplace.
