Primark’s CEO resigns under a cloud – but has it affected opinion of the high street brand?

Paul Marchant recently resigned as Primark CEO after a woman made an allegation about his behaviour. He has been replaced on an interim basis by Eoin Tonge. The former leader of the high street budget fashion chain admitted to an “error of judgment” in a social situation following an investigation. 

Has the story affected public perceptions of Primark? YouGov BrandIndex asks consumers a range of questions about brands across multiple sectors every day. Our data shows that between 31 March 2025 (when Marchant resigned) and 06 April 2025, Buzz scores – which ask the public if they have heard anything positive or negative about a company recently – dipped from 7.9 to 4.2, a decline of 3.7 points. Other metrics, however, have not suffered. 

Reputation scores, for example, which track whether the public would be proud or embarrassed to work for a particular brand, have gone from -23.9 to -12.7 (+11.2). It’s a score that remains firmly negative and below the sector average of 8.0, but the story doesn’t appear to have adversely affected public opinion of Primark in this area. Impression scores, which track general positive or negative sentiment towards a brand, changed from 5.4 to 12.5 (+7.1), while Consideration scores rose from 28.3 to 31.5 (+3.2). 

There are a few potential reasons behind these positive movements. One may be simple timing: the week of the CEO changeover coincided with some new Primark sales initiatives, such as the launch of a new luggage collection, a collaboration with Krispy Kreme, and the revival of jelly sandals. Another may be that, despite the dip in buzz, the public aren’t necessarily keeping up with the corporate goings-on at high street fashion, retailers and some combination of the current lack of information around the allegation and the rapid replacement of Marchant has made the story less alive in the public mind. Will that change if more information comes to light? It remains to be seen, but for the moment, public perception of Primark doesn’t appear to have measurably worsened.  

This article originally appeared in City AM.