When Sir Terence Conran anointed his son, Jasper, as the head of his eponymous design empire it appeared that the tricky issue of succession had finally been resolved. However, it emerged yesterday that Mr Conran had quietly quit, three years after becoming chairman of the Conran furniture shops.
The fashion designer resigned the day after an interview was published where his father raised concerns about his “experience and knowledge” of furniture. Mr Conran, 56, tried yesterday to play down the significance of his decision to resign as director of ten Conran businesses, including the holding company, in September. His father said in the interview that his son “never, or hardly ever, talks to me” and added: “I kept on saying I’ve got the experience and knowledge, I know things you don’t. I know how to design furniture.”
Mr Conran expressed surprise at his father’s decision to make him chairman in September 2012. He said his father had not offered him any advice. “Nothing at all,” he said. “Do I look like I’d take it?” Mr Conran said yesterday that he had been juggling running the Conran empire and his own fashion business and had “come to the conclusion that this is simply not sustainable.”
A friend of Sir Terence, 84, insisted that the resignation was not linked to any attempt to wrest back control of the businesses or a family dispute.