Bijou Kurien quits Reliance

Bijou Kurien, part of the original team which built Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail, has resigned after seven years in the company. He was chief executive and president, lifestyle. Kurien, 54, also plans to step down from the boards of the joint ventures with UK's Marks & Spencer's and Vision Express, among others. An alumnus of XLRI Jamshedpur, he spent 19 years at lifestyle company Titan Industries, where he was chief operating officer, before moving to Reliance Retail. He had started at Hindustan Unilever as a management trainee. When asked, Kurien said: "I am taking a break for personal reasons and will pursue other options after my break." Kurien denied having any issues with the restructuring in Reliance Retail. Reliance Retail began its stores in 2006. It had the late Raghu Pillai, Gunender Kapoor, Sanjeev Asthana and Kurien at the helm. Kurien was among the last ones from the original top team still with the company.