The pureplay retailer said that Fletcher would join on January 6 and would report directly to chief executive Henry Birch as a member of its executive board.

Fletcher joins Shop Direct from Clarks, where he has been in post since 2017. Since joining Clarks, Fletcher led its £1bn-revenue, 9,000-staff European business and was “responsible for customer-centric investments including a new European fulfilment centre; delivering significant digital expansion and increased engagement”.

He joined Clarks from Walgreens BootsAlliance, where he worked for six years, most recently as the managing director of Boots Opticians. In his time there, Boots Opticians grew market share, revenue, profit and EBITDA year on year. He also held the roles of finance director for Boots UK and Ireland, and commercial finance director for Boots UK.