13 Robin Terrell

Terrell has propelled House of Fraser into the big league and shown how it is now taking multichannel seriously. He has few equals in the online retail world, having run John Lewis Direct, Figleaves and Amazon in the UK, and he is one of few to have achieved success at leading pure-play etailers and multichannel businesses too. At John Lewis, he effectively put himself out of a job by integrating the Direct business into the main organisation.

Terrell is already making his presence felt at House of Fraser. The company reported a 150% jump in its online sales in the first half of its financial year. Click and collect areas have been unveiled in some of its stores this autumn, and the web played a key part in the relaunch of the iconic Biba brand in September. Chief executive John King and Chairman Don McCarthy are committed to building the online business and with Terrell in charge it seems poised to move to the next level.