Mothercare loses finance director - Telegraph Neil Harrington resigned from his role at the company to join an unnamed private equity firm. His departure comes just days ahead of the arrival of Simon Calver as the group's new chief executive. The news is the latest in a long line of setbacks for the company. Earlier this month, Mothercare admitted it needed to significantly lower prices to compete with the supermarkets and Amazon, as it announced an overhaul of the business, major job losses and the suspension of its dividend. Alan Parker, the chairman who joined last year, said previous management "were too aggressive in the pricing." Mr Parker insisted that lowering prices would not hit profits, because the group would run fewer big promotions and buy more efficiently. "It is not our intention" for margins to fall any further, he said. His comments were made as the retailer reported disappointing fourth-quarter trading, its ninth consecutive quarterly sale decline.