ER gets new CEO and £13m credit line

Kids entertainment company Entertainment Rights has appointed ex-Disney exec Deborah Dugan CEO and is parting company with chief creative officer and commercial director Jane Smith. It has also secured a new £13 million ($19.4 million)credit line that it says will cover any cash shortfalls through to February 2009.

The troubled company parted company with previous CEO, Nick Phillips, last week.

In a statement ER said that early signs suggest that sales over the Christmas period will be lower than expected. It has embarked on a cost-reduction plan and sad it will reduce the company headcount from 150 to 100 by end-2008.

In the UK ER has been impacted by Woolworths filing for administration. The high street store owes ER about £800,000.

Dugan has been with ER since April 2007 when she was appointed president and CEO of the company’s North American operations. Before that Dugan was president of Disney Publishing Worldwide.