Melbourne-based e-commerce company Articore Group, listed on the ASX as ATG, has announced major leadership changes. The company’s co-founder and CEO, Martin Hosking, has left the business with immediate effect. Two directors with ties to The Star Entertainment Group, Anne Ward and Ben Heap, have also stepped down.
These changes come after a group of shareholders, including Hosking and former chairman Richard Cawsey, pushed for a vote to remove Ward, Heap, and another director, Robin Low. They used their voting power, which is more than 5 percent of the company’s total, to request a special meeting. This action followed years of weak financial results and falling shareholder confidence.
Articore stated that these leadership changes are part of a planned strategy to refresh the board and executive team. The company is now focusing more on its largest market, North America, which generates over 75 percent of its revenue.
Martin Hosking co-founded Redbubble, now part of Articore, in 2006. He played a major role in building the company and served in different leadership roles, including CEO and executive chair. He returned as CEO in March 2023, but after the latest board conflict, he has left the company for good.
Vivek Kumar, who joined Articore in 2022 as the CEO of TeePublic, has been named the new Group CEO. Last year, Kumar was also leading the Marketplaces division, which oversees both Redbubble and TeePublic. In that role, he helped increase revenue and improve operations by combining teams and cutting costs.
Anne Ward had been chair of Articore since 2018. She is also the current chair of The Star Entertainment Group. Ben Heap, who had been a director since 2020, also worked with The Star and is currently facing civil charges from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). These charges relate to alleged failures in handling junket operations at The Star’s casinos.
Heap had taken a break from the Articore board earlier this year for personal reasons. His involvement with legal issues may have added pressure for him to step aside from Articore’s board during this period of change.
Articore has appointed Robin Mendelson as its new board chair. Mendelson is based in the United States and joined the company in 2024. She spent 20 years working at Amazon, where she led large-scale projects and helped grow revenue in their media division.
The leadership shake-up comes at a difficult time for Articore. The company reported a 12 percent drop in revenue for the first half of fiscal year 2025. Marketplace sales fell to $230.4 million. The company blames weak consumer demand and reduced web traffic to Redbubble.com for the drop.
This is not the first time Articore has faced financial problems. The last three years have seen repeated poor earnings reports. The company’s share price rose slightly to 15 cents after the news of leadership changes, but this is far below its all-time high of $7.04 in January 2021.
Articore operates two main websites: Redbubble.com and TeePublic.com. These platforms allow independent artists to sell their designs on products like shirts, bags, and phone cases. The company earns money from commissions on each sale.
The appointment of Kumar and Mendelson is seen as a move to improve performance and rebuild trust with investors. Articore says its new leadership team will focus on creating long-term value and aligning with the company’s growth plans.
