July is usually a busy month for job moves as end of year results are announced, and this year it didn’t disappoint - some major boardroom changes were afoot.
The biggest shock of the month came when Marks & Spencer announced that group sales had fallen 0.7% in its first quarter, with general merchandise down 5.1%. It announced a management shake-up that saw general merchandise executive director Kate Bostock leave and former Jaegar boss Belinda Earl join the retailer. Bostock will step down from the board and leave M&S on October 1. Her role will be taken up by John Dixon, an M&S veteran who is currently executive director of food. Steve Rowe, currently director of retail, will replace him as head of food.
Belinda Earl, the former chief executive of Debenhams, Jaeger and Aquascutum, will join the retailer as Style Director from September 1 in a newly created part-time role. Marks & Spencer has also brought in Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, former group president at The Estée Lauder Companies. Bousquet-Chavanne has already been advising M&S on its new M&S YourBeauty concept, resulting in the retailer bringing in niche beauty brands and redesigning their beauty departments.
Another big surprise came as Paula Reed, style director at women’s magazine Grazia, was appointed Harvey Nichol’s fashion director. The move from publishing to retail might have surprised onlookers, but will no doubt be part of a trend in head hunting for the future.
The luxury end of the market was very busy. Selfridges lost its executive director John Edgar, who moved to Harrods, and executive director Ewan Venters who became chief executive at Fortnum and Mason. Also at the luxury end of the market, Jimmy Choo got a new chief executive Pierre Denis, who left LVMH brand Christian Dior.
The rest of July’s job moves are in the table below. August is traditionally quiet for retail recruitment – it remains to be seen if we’ll see another flurry of high profile job changes as we head into the key retail trading months.
July’s main retail moves
Name | Job Role | Company Exiting | Company Joining | Job Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Nicholl | - | - | Majestic Wine | Commercial Sales Director |
| Karen Witts | Chief Financial Officer | Vodafone | Kingfisher | Group Finance Director |
| Kevin O’Byrne | Group Finance Director | - | Kingfisher | Divisional Chief Exec, B&Q |
| Ewan Venters | Executive Director | Selfridges | Fortnum & Mason | Chief Executive |
| Neil Harrington | Finance Director | Mothercare | Cath Kidston | Chief Financial Officer |
| Ken Reeve | Buying and Merchandising Director | Cotswold Outdoor | Blacks | Managing Director |
| Belinda Earl | CEO | Debenhams, Jaeger and Aquascutum | M&S | Style Director |
| John Edgar | Group Finance Director | Selfridges | Harrods | Chief Financial Officer |
| Steve Murrells | Chief Executive | Tulip | Co-operative | Chief Executive |
| Helen Low | Buying and Design Director | Marks & Spencer | Asda | General Mgr for Design at George |
| Joanna Sykes | Design Director | Aquascutum | Nicole Farhi | Creative Director |
| David Wild | Chief Executive | Halfords | ||
| Carole Boyes-Weston | - | High Fashion UK | M&S | Head of Design for its Per Una and Limited Collection Womenswear Brands |
| Kate Bostock | General Merchandise Executive Director | Marks & Spencer | ||
| John Dixon | Executive Director, Food | - | M&S | General Merchandise Executive Director |
| Tim Stanley | Managing Director | Bargain Booze | Non-Executive Role | |
| Steve Rowe | Director of Retail | - | M&S | Executive Director, Food |
| Lee Bagnall | Chief Operating Officer | Go Outdoors | - | - |
| Tracey Travis | Chief Financial Officer | Ralph Lauren | - | - |
| Paula Reed | Grazia Style Director | Grazia | Harvey Nichols | Group Fashion Director |
| Trevor Moore | Chief Executive | Jessops | - | - |
| Andrew Merriman | Chief Operating Officer | Gieves & Hawkes | Nicole Farhi | Chief Finance and Operating Officer |
| Lord Alliance of Manchester | Chairman | N Brown Group | - | - |
| Pierre Denis | Managing Director for Christian Dior Couture | John Galliano | Jimmy Choo | Chief Executive |
| Ian Taylor | Head of Commercial Operations and Sales and Marketing | The Co-Operative Farms | Spar UK | Head of Retail |
| Andrea O’Donnell | Commercial Director | John Lewis Partnership | Lane Crawford | Executive Director |
| Sebastian Picardo | Managing Director of Digital Commerce | Burberry | Lane Crawford | Executive Vice President Business Development And Online |
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