Paul Mason, Dr. Martens non-Executive Chairman since 2015, is taking on the CEO role on an interim basis as the brand will now look for a permanent successor to Steve Murray.

The company announced Murray’s leave as a joint decision of the CEO and the Dr Martens Board, after agreeing now was the right time to change the leadership. Dr. Martens is currently going through a Private-Equity Revamp.

Dr. Martens, an historic UK-based rubber-sole boot maker, was a family owned company established in 1901, until in 2013, private equity firm Permira bought the company for nearly 500 million US dollars. As Permira took the reins and Murray was in charge of the footwear business, Dr. Martens expanded its portfolio of products adding new lines with a strong influence from sneaker culture and casual footwear and reinforced the distribution network, while opening Dr. Martens-branded stores and focusing  on renovated e-commerce channels.

Recent numbers indicate that sales hit nearly 290 million pounds for the financial year ended in March 2017, which represents an increase of 25% over the previous year.