The board of directors of Birks Group Inc. appointed Mr. Joseph F.X. Zahra as a director of the company, effective November 9, 2016. Mr. Zahra is considered an independent director in accordance with the NYSE MKT Company Guide. Mr. Zahra is a founding partner and managing director of MISCO. Mr. Zahra was appointed as one of the five international auditors at the Prefettura per gli Affari Economici of the Holy See from 2010 to 2014 and was the president of the economic and administrative reform commission (COSEA) from 2013 to 2014 as well as the vice coordinator of the newly formed Council for the Economy of the Holy See since 2014. On November 15, 2016, Dr. Lorenzo Rossi di Montelera, the company's chairman of the board, advised the company that he will be retiring from the company's board of directors as a (i) director of the company and (ii) chairman of the board of directors of the company, each effective as of December 31, 2016, following 23 years as chairman of the board of the company. The company's board of directors has appointed Niccol Rossi di Montelera, Dr. Lorenzo Rossi di Montelera's son, as executive chairman to succeed Dr. Lorenzo Rossi di Montelera, effective January 1, 2017.