British retailer M&S appoints new leadership team

Katie Bickerstaffe will become co-chief executive with a particular focus on driving the global omni-channel, digital and data future for the business. She will retain her existing portfolio including responsibility for Clothing & Home, MS2, International and Financial Services. Katie will also re-join the PLC board with effect from May 25 where she was previously a non-executive director.

Eoin Tonge becomes the chief strategy & finance officer. In addition to his current responsibilities, he will play an enhanced role in leading the future development of the business. He will also take on oversight of Plan A and remain on the PLC board.

M&S has now embarked on the second phase of its transformation programme, “Shaping The Future.” The board’s view is that under the current team, the business has made remarkable progress and that continuity of strategy and leadership is advantageous. Bringing together these three outstanding leaders will provide the stability, pace and bandwidth required to accelerate the pace of change, M&S said in a press release.

During his tenure, Steve oversaw far reaching changes in organisation structure and management. As a result, he will leave a very strong leadership team and a faster, more digital, commercial business that’s closer to the customer and front line.

“It has been an enormous privilege to lead the business I love and have spent almost all my career working for. Leaving will be in many ways very difficult for me but I feel that after six hard years it is the right time to pass on the baton. I am enormously grateful for the support I have had in driving through the extraordinary transformation programme of the last few years from shareholders, the Board, but most of all the many thousands of colleagues in the business. A piece of my heart will always remain with the M&S family, and I feel that we have done many of the hard yards to restore the business to what it should be. I’m proud that I am leaving a very strong team who will lead it into the next growth phase. I wish them every success,” Steve Rowe, said.

“The appointments we are making today bring together a very strong leadership team to take the business into the next stage of its transformation. Both Stuart and Katie are outstanding high impact leaders with very strong track records and experience of leading businesses through transformative change. With Eoin, they make a very powerful leadership team able to span the full breadth of our businesses. Given the very strong recent progress we have made, keeping up the pace and momentum is critical. We are delighted to have brought together three exceptional individuals who, with the support of the executive committee, will provide vision, energy and pace for this next phase,” Archie Norman, chairman, said.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (RR)