Angela Ahrendts is leaving Burberry – and Christopher Bailey is stepping into her CEO role.

It will make his job title the superlative Chief Creative and Chief Executive Officer when Ahrendts steps down for a new challenge as head of retail at Apple in mid-2014.

The shuffle marks the end of an era at Burberry, which has seen the ‘dream team’ of Ahrendts and Bailey transform the British heritage brand into a global power player with its finger on the pulse of cutting-edge technology and design in a decade.

This year, Ahrendts also achieved the incredible position of being the highest paid person in the FTSE 100 – a position previously not held by a woman, and one made all the more impressive in the context of our Make Them Pay campaign, which highlights the fact that women working full-time in Britain earn 17.8% less than their male counterparts and has been backed by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Equalities Minister Jo Swinson.

‘Burberry is in brilliant shape, having built the industry's most powerful management team, converted the business to a dynamic digital global retailer, created a world class supply chain, state of the art technology infrastructure, sensational brand momentum and one of the most closely connected creative cultures in the world today,’ said Ahrendts.

‘It has been an honour to have partnered with [Burberry chairman] Sir John Peace and Christopher for the last eight years.

‘I am confident that, with Sir John’s continued guidance and the executive team’s support, Christopher, as one of this generation’s greatest visionaries, will continue to lead Burberry to new heights. Today, Burberry is not only a great brand, but a truly great company.”

Added Bailey: 'I am profoundly moved and humbled to be asked to take on the CEO role at this company that means so much to me. I also feel privileged to be keeping my role as Chief Creative Officer, as I believe that creativity and innovation have been at the heart of our success in the last ten years and will be even more so in the decade ahead.’

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