Paul Marchant

There aren’t many bigger pairs of shoes to fill in fashion than those of Primark founder Arthur Ryan. But anyone who saw the Primark table at this year’s Oracle Retail Week Awards (where Primark was named Retailer of the Year and Ryan won a lifetime achievement award) will have seen how Marchant has slotted into the close-knit team at the Irish fast-fashion giant.

That’s all the more remarkable because Primark’s senior management has been dominated by Ryan and his colleagues, who have been running the business since it was founded in Dublin 40 years ago. But having served his apprenticeship alongside Ryan, Marchant has acquired the business’s unique quirks and picked up where the old master left off.

Some who know him say that the unusual and not particularly corporate atmosphere of Primark will suit Marchant, who hasn’t always been one to toe the line. There is lots of expansion potential, with sales in the UK still phenomenally strong and mainland Europe and Spain in particular proving a happy hunting ground for the business.

Marchant joined Primark after losing out to Carl McPhail (30) in the race to become chief executive of New Look, where he was chief operating officer. Known as being a very direct operator, Marchant’s skillset combines good product knowledge with operational expertise, and he is fiercely ambitious.