Tata Group-owned retail major Trent on Thursday said Noel Tata will step down as chairman and director, effective November 11, with the company appointing Bahram Vakil as his successor.
Tata, who has been associated with Trent since 1997, will be designated Chairman Emeritus from November 12, according to a filing with the stock exchanges.
He had announced his decision to retire at the company’s 47th annual general meeting on June 23, telling shareholders that it would be his final AGM as chairman. His departure at the age of 70 is in line with the Tata Group’s governance policy for non-executive directors.
His exit marks the end of an era for Trent, which has transformed from a business rooted in the erstwhile Lakmé operations into one of India’s most successful retail companies under his stewardship. What began with a single Westside store has grown into a network of more than 1,300 stores across multiple formats.
Tata joined Trent as its first managing director in June 1999 and became chairman in March 2014. Over nearly three decades, the company has expanded its retail footprint, diversified its formats and emerged as the Tata Group’s fourth-most valuable listed company by market capitalisation.
Trent’s revenue has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 25% over the past 28 years, reaching ₹20,074 crore in FY26. Net profit stood at ₹1,720 crore in the financial year, reflecting the scale of the business and the impact of its retail strategy.
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For the first half of FY27, Trent’s net profit rose 22% year-on-year to ₹983 crore, while revenue increased 20% to ₹11,628 crore.
Investors have also rewarded the company’s growth. Trent’s market capitalisation rose from about ₹300 crore in June 1999 to a peak of nearly ₹3 lakh crore in October 2024. Its inclusion in the Nifty 50 in September 2024 marked another milestone in its rise among India’s most valuable listed companies.
Trent currently has a market capitalisation of ₹1.53 lakh crore, accounting for 6.3% of the Tata Group’s combined market value of ₹24.3 lakh crore.
A defining feature of Tata’s leadership was Trent’s focus on building businesses organically while remaining open to experimentation. The company partnered with global brands such as Zara, Massimo Dutti and Tesco, acquired Landmark and launched multiple retail formats. While some ventures succeeded, others were discontinued, reflecting a willingness to adapt its strategy as the business evolved.
At the company’s 2023 AGM, Tata outlined an ambitious growth target for Trent, envisaging a tenfold increase in revenue with commensurate profitability.
“I had envisioned Trent becoming ten times larger in terms of revenues with commensurate profitability. Since then, the revenue and profitability run rate has grown by over 2.5 times. Given all this, I am confident that we will reach the milestone I had referenced in the not-so-distant future,” he said.