Burberry: By Design or default? Parker, like Bailey, spent two decades in design and product and brand development before taking the top job. However, unlike Bailey, Parker spent the seven years before becoming chief executive as co-president of the brand, learning the ropes and preparing for the role that was yet to come. And for all Bailey's experience in the fashion world - he worked for Donna Karan for two years after graduating from the Royal College of Art in 1994, then for Tom Ford at Gucci for five years until 2001, the year he joined Burberry - he remains an unknown quantity in the world of the Square Mile. "Inevitably, people are going to say that it all looks rather curious," said one veteran City banker, who asked not to be named. The speed with which he was announced, and the way in which it was done, was not planned. If it had been, he would have already been on the board, being groomed for the top job. Investors agree. Although Bailey has increasingly been introduced to analysts and shareholders at functions in the past few years by Ahrendts, he has not visibly warmed to the role. One investor described him as "somewhat shy," while another company watcher noted: "He's a very talented designer but there's no way he can run that company." Fairweather, the only one of Burberry's eight-strong board to publicly break cover since the announcement, insists that Bailey was always going to replace Ahrendts. "This was about succession planning which is the responsibility of the board," she said. Christopher has always been our nominated successor. Such "planning," however, is believed to have been no more than the standard process a board goes through to identify an emergency replacement should the need arise, rather than an exhaustive search. Indeed, if board members were comfortable with Ahrendts" departure and Bailey's succession, why then, as The Daily Telegraph revealed last week, did Sir John plead with her not to go? Shareholders picked up on the speed of the decision, sending the shares down 7.6pc on Tuesday and in the process wiping more than £500m from Burberry's market capitalisation. It is not only Ahrendts" departure which has unnerved investors, however. Stacey Cartwright, Burberry's chief financial officer for nine years, stepped down at the company's annual general meeting last summer. At the time, this was put down to her desire to "pursue new interests" but in light of Bailey's elevation, was it the case that she knew the door to the top job had been permanently closed? Company insiders say her decision was "personal," and Sir John rapidly dismissed suggestions that she left in a fit of pique. In Cartwright's place came her own long-standing lieutenant, Fairweather, who had been her number two for eight years. Asked if she knew the Bailey replacement plan when she agreed to take the CFO job in February, Fairweather is non-committal, saying: "Of course I knew we had robust succession planning, but nothing specifically on timing." Another person whose nose could be put out of joint by Bailey's elevation is John Smith, the former head of BBC Worldwide. Smith made the somewhat unusual move of switching from a non-executive role to executive director in March of this year, becoming chief operating officer at Burberry. At the time of his appointment, the company said he would help to drive the operational execution of Burberry's brands, particularly in digital media, and to optimise the potential of its new beauty division. But some, outside the business at least, had identified him as a potential replacement for Ahrendts at some point in the future. He is believed to have told friends that he wanted to run a public company. It is understood that Sir John has spoken to both Fairweather and Smith about their future roles. "John's having a ball," said one insider. He's like a new man and there's no way he's going to throw all that away. The pair will be instrumental to Bailey's tenure being a success. Sir John is known to have said internally that some of the work done by Ahrendts will pass to the duo, meaning Bailey will be less involved on the administration side. But, despite that, the 42-year-old Yorkshire designer will be very much the head of the business and very much in charge. Bailey's personality is humble and collaborative and, despite the industry he has spent his life in, is far from the typical fashion prima donna one might expect. Such traits should stand him in good stead for his new role, despite his detractors. "If you have an Armani or a Versace, the creative designer starts the business, and you get to the scale whereby a professional manager takes over," says one top 20 investor of Bailey's appointment. But it looks like this is going in reverse. Those who know the company well point to the fact that although Ahrendts has been chief executive since July 2006, Bailey, who was named chief creative officer in 2009, has been there at every turn. It was his suggestion that led to Ahrendts being hired - having worked with her when at Donna Karan. It was his idea to move the business's flagship catwalk show back from Milan to London. It was his vision which led to the move to and design of Horseferry House, which, at the time it opened, meant all the brand's London staff could be together in one building. And it was Bailey, together with Ahrendts, who has helped to revive the brand following its brush with the UK's "chav" culture in the late 1990s. A technophile, Bailey has also been behind the push to shift the Burberry brand digitally, as seen in the launch of a string of new micro-sites and its use of Facebook and Twitter. That is not to say that he does not face challenges. Ahrendts" tenure and success has ridden on the back of Burberry's expansion into China. But as growth there has begun to slow, so Bailey needs to hunt for fresh opportunities. The brand has already begun focusing on new markets, such as central and south America, where it has opened its own stores in Brazil and Mexico, and is working with franchise partners in Chile and Colombia. Part of the rationale behind these stores is to capture the luxury traveller wherever they go. The key test that many analysts appear to be concerned about is the future of the brand in Japan once its existing licence there ends in 2015. It was Burberry's choice to end the licence - with partners Sanyo Shokai and Mitsui & Co - and the business does have experience of similar moves in China and in its beauty division. Last Tuesday's first-half trading update - overshadowed by news of Ahrendts" exit - showed that in the first six months of direct ownership, Burberry's beauty arm generated £51m in wholesale revenue, with Fairweather guiding £140m of sales for the full year. The company has experience in managing transitions from one licence agreement to the next, and as a result the end of the Japanese franchise should be seen as a challenge rather than a threat, according to insiders. Almost one week on from Ahrendts" decision to go, and with the shares beginning to return to the pre-resignation price of £15.88, closing at £15.27 on Friday, the message internally is that this is business as usual, albeit with an even more creative twist in the corner office. "The practical consequence of this is that investors will enter a 'show me" mode. They'll wait for the first decisions, the first communications, before deciding what to do next," says Luca Solca, of Exane BNP Paribas. "Think back eight years ago, and Rose-Marie [Bravo] going, and it seemed like the end of the world," says one board member, speaking on the basis of anonymity. But we didn't need another Rose-Marie, and we don't need another Angela. Christopher brings the right ingredients for the next stage on Burberry's journey.