Founder of The Warehouse Group and member of the group’s board of directors, Sir Stephen Tindall is marking the firm’s 35th anniversary by taking a year’s leave of absence from the business.

Robbie Tindall, who has acted as Sir Stephen’s alternate director on the board, will stand-in for Sir Tindall while he is on leave.

Sir Stephen said it was his first period of long leave from the firm he founded when he opened the doors of The Warehouse in Wairau Rd on Auckland’s North Shore in 1982.

He is taking leave because of workload from other commitments, including as chair of Team New Zealand, as well as venture capital work with his company K1W1. His leave of absence will be from now until October, 2018.

“The Warehouse Group is currently well-led at a governance level by chair Joan Withers and the board, and at a group level by CEO Nick Grayston and his team, and my confidence in this leadership and our strategy for the next 12 months and beyond makes it possible for me to take a leave of absence,” said Sir Tindall.

In its most recent trading update, the retail giant beat its annual profit forecast after a better-than-expected second half.

Adjusted profit fell 7.7 per cent to $59.2 million in the year ended July 30, from $64.1 million a year earlier, it said on Friday. That’s ahead of the company’s forecast for adjusted profit of $54 million to $58 million.