David Pemsel to step down as Chair of the British Fashion Council on 30 September

David Pemsel will step down as Chair of the British Fashion Council on 30 September. He will have spent four years in the role and a decade on the organisation's executive board, which he joined in 2016 as Non-Executive Director before succeeding Stephanie Phair in 2022.

According to WWD, the British Fashion Council had been searching for its next Chair for several months. A successor will be announced next month, the report notes. L'édition SS of London Fashion Week, running from 17 to 21 September, will mark David Pemsel's last appearance as Chair.

Under his tenure, the British Fashion Council recorded record annual revenue of 14 million pounds in the 2024-25 financial year. David Pemsel also helped secure a multi-year, multi-million-pound investment from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and the BFC Foundation raised 7.2 million pounds over the same period.

A 2030 plan already approved

David Pemsel signed off on Chief Executive Laura Weir's four-year strategic and financial plan, titled « BFC 2030: Access, Creativity, Growth ». The plan targets a 38% increase in the organisation's gross annual revenue, to reach 18 million pounds by 2030. Laura Weir took over as chief executive of the organisation in April 2025, succeeding Caroline Rush CBE after sixteen years at its head.

The British Fashion Council is also launching « Fashion Britain », a programme of more than 1,000 events across seven British cities in September, involving more than 100 designer members of the organisation.

David Pemsel, former CEO of Guardian Media Group and co-founder of the now-defunct branding and communications firm ScienceMagic.Inc, said: « Il a été un honneur de participer au renforcement du BFC, à la sécurisation d'investissements de long terme, au soutien de la nouvelle génération de designers et à l'élévation du profil mondial de la mode britannique. »

Laura Weir praised « un Chair exceptionnel et un défenseur infatigable de la mode britannique », adding that his leadership had strengthened the British Fashion Council as an organisation, creating the stability, governance and long-term foundations needed to carry out the industry's ambitions.

David Pemsel, for his part, said the British Fashion Council was entering its next chapter from a position of strength, expressing his confidence in Laura Weir, the board and the organisation's team to carry forward their ambitious vision for the future of British fashion.