At Freemans Grattan Holdings (FGH), which is owned by German giant Otto, Cristofoli will play a key role in reinvigorating the business. Its brands include value fashion business Bonprix and plus-size specialist Curvissa, as well as the core Freemans and Grattan operations.

Cristofoli will work alongside chief executive Ann Steer, the former N Brown chief customer officer who took the helm last year to lead a transformation of FGH, which started as a catalogue business but now generates about 80% of its sales online.