David Wood replaces Newton-Jones as Mothercare CEO

"David's appointment ensures that Mothercare has in place fresh leadership to complete its transformation plan and return to growth," it said.

The company said Wood has a "strong" track record for turning around growing retail businesses. He was previously group president of US grocery retail and pharmaceutical business Kmart Holding, which he returned to sustainable profit growth. Prior to this, he held a number of senior commercial, marketing and general management positions at Tesco, where he achieved similar results in the UK and internationally.

Chairman Alan Parker said: "Mothercare is a great brand with a great future but it is facing a number of challenges, not least a highly competitive retail environment. Our transformation strategy is focused on improving the performance of the group in the UK and internationally, ensuring Mothercare has the best store format, digital capabilities and customer offer as well as several actions to reduce central costs.

"We have made positive progress but it is essential that we have the most effective leadership in place to meet our ambitions for our customers and our shareholders. David has a great track record in similar circumstances across international and consumer facing brands and is a highly effective operator of retail operations. I look forward to working with him and the team."

Mothercare has been under pressure since its profit warning in January, when it reported a 7.2% drop in UK like-for-like sales over the Christmas period and said it was not expecting any improvement in the short-term market conditions for the UK.

Wood said on Wednesday that his immediate focus is to ensure that Mothercare "is put back on a sound financial footing and deliver a successful plan to improve performance".

At 0955 BST, the shares were down 2.3% to 17.84p.