20 Susan Aubrey-Cound

Aubrey-Cound has spent the last eight years at Marks & Spencer, often assigned to key development roles.

Before becoming director of multichannel development strategy in July 2009, she was executive assistant to then-executive chairman Sir Stuart Rose and prior to that group head of marketing.

Her latest position perhaps epitomises how retail has changed. Two decades ago, one of her early jobs was with Jake Mail Order, but while catalogues remain an important retail channel, the website now complements and increasingly replaces the traditional book.

One of the landmark initiatives introduced at M&S during Aubrey-Cound’s tenure has been a bespoke designed mobile shopping site - the first by a high street retailer. It lets customers browse and buy using a smartphone, and is not restricted to any one device such as an iPhone. Its success has shocked even those involved in its development within M&S, particularly the statistics on big ticket items such as beds and sofas it has sold using the m-commerce channel.

Another red letter occasion came a year ago when the retailer launched its Shop Your Way multichannel service.

Together with M&S Direct director Dave Hughes, she is ensuring the retailer is no longer considered an etail laggard.