John hargreaves business person of the year

Matalan Founder John Hargreaves has returned to the fashion and homeware retailer after a 15 year absence, with Executive Chairman Steve Johnson exiting the business.

Johnson first joined Matalan in July 2020 and is also currently Chairman of Poundland, owned by PEPCO.

Matalan was originally founded by Hargreaves with a stall in Liverpool in 1985 and has since grown to 230 stores in the UK and several franchise stores in the Middle East.

Hargreaves recently lost a long-running court battle over an attempt to avoid a tax bill of up to £135 million.

The businessman, who is based in Monaco, has been ordered to pay capital gains tax on his sale of £231 million of Matalan shares in May 2000.

John Hargreaves, Founder and Chairman of Matalan, said: “I would like to personally go on record and thank Steve for all his invaluable leadership and contribution over the last two years.

Steve joined the business in a non-executive c