Following a review of the ongoing and future needs of the award winning nursery brand, Ieuan Rowell has been appointed as Managing Director of Ickle Bubba.
With over a decade’s worth of experience in both large corporates and SME’s, Ieuan carved out his career as a global financer at Deloitte before working within business consultancy and as a freelance Finance Director for several years. In 2018, he joined Ickle Bubba’s Board of Directors and quickly secured the role of Group Chief Financial Officer in August 2021.
Having worked alongside founder, Fran Vaughan, for five years, Ieuan will now lead the business with the rest of the senior leadership team as they focus on continued growth and expansion within key territories.
On the recent management change, Fran Vaughan comments: “Back in 2011, my wife, Veronica, and I had this crazy idea to create an all in one travel system for new parents that offered great value and style. Fast forward to 2022, the journey from then to where we are now has been incredible. Having propelled a business from the ground up, I feel it is the right time to handover my vision to Ieuan, who I know will bring fresh energy, new leadership and be pivotal to Ickle Bubba’s succession plan.”
Reflecting on his next career move, Fran Vaughan explains that his departure will now allow him to focus on helping other entrepreneurs start or grow their own business.
Commenting on his appointment to Managing Director, Ieuan Rowell, said: “It’s been great working with Fran over the past few years, helping Ickle Bubba become such a successful brand in the Nursery market. Whilst leading the finance function has been part of this, I’ve already built some great relationships with our suppliers and customers, as well as being involved in the digital and marketing arena. I’m so proud of where the team has already got us to and am really energised to now lead the business into the next phase of delivery of our strategic vision.”
Having grown exponentially in just over a decade, Ickle Bubba now has 55 staff across three sites in the UK and China. Sales have more than doubled every year between 2013 and 2021, with the company estimating revenue will reach £18.6 million in the year to the end of March 2023.
Ickle Bubba continues to be recognised for its success despite the tough few years all businesses have faced. The company has recently been named Fastest Growing Business’ in the Manufacturing and Engineering category at the 2022 Wales Fast Growth 50 awards as well as being profiled by The Times as part of their ‘Rising Stars: three fast growing companies in Wales’ series.
Having recently launched seven new travel systems and a ‘sit and grow’ highchair into their product range, the brand are set to continue their mission to provide stylish and affordable products for parents.
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