St Ives plc announced that Matt Armitage has informed the Board of his intention to retire as CEO at the end of the current financial year. He will be succeeded by J Schwan, who has been with the group for three years, serving previously as the CEO of Solstice and more recently as the Group's first Chief Digital Officer. The Board proposes to appoint J to the CEO role effective from August 4, 2018. Matt will continue in his current position until this date and will remain with the group as a special adviser for twelve months thereafter to assist with the transition. J began his career in Accenture's emerging technologies lab and, after leaving Accenture, went on to found Solstice, a 400+ person, digital innovation firm with offices in Chicago, New York and Buenos Aires. J is in the Chicago Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame, is an EY Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist, was recently named in Crain's Tech 50 and is a University of Illinois College of Engineering Young Alumnus of the Year.