Marks & Spencer has appointed Richard Price, Tesco’s Chief Executive of F&F Clothing, as the new Managing Director of its ailing clothing and homewares division.
Prior to joining Tesco in 2015, Price was MD of the now defunct BHS chain for nearly three years. He had previously worked with M&S as its Trading Director between 2005 to 2012 but left the business after becoming disillusioned about its future direction.
Despite attempts in recent years to overhaul M&S’ clothing and home offering to win back shoppers from fast-growing discount and online rivals, the unit is continuing to struggle. The company’s half year results earlier this month showed like-for-like sales in the clothing and home arm had declined by 5.5%.
Price is a more orthodox choice than his predecessor Jill McDonald, a former boss of Halfords and McDonald’s who had no fashion experience before joining M&S. She left the company in the summer after less than two years in the job amid stock issues and continued weak performance.
Commenting on the new appointment, Steve Rowe, CEO of M&S said: “Richard’s career spans some of the UK’s top clothing brands and he has a proven track record of delivering growth through stylish, great value product. We are building a team of world class talent in Clothing & Home and, with Richard coming on board, I am confident that the speed and scale of the transformation of the business will accelerate.”
Price added: “Marks & Spencer Clothing & Home is a great business which still has strong brand affection and huge potential. I left the business because I felt it was drifting in the wrong direction but now feel we have a real chance to make it special again. The new team has already started to improve product and value and I am looking forward to working with them.”
He will join M&S next year, although a start date has yet to be confirmed.
NAM Implications:
- Richard Price is obviously back for a second stint with greater potential freedom to make change in M&S Clothing & Home Division trading policy.
- i.e. anticipate measurable change…
