Responding to press reports yesterday, Marks & Spencer has announced that its joint Chief Executive, Katie Bickerstaffe, will leave the business after its AGM in July.
Bickerstaffe joined M&S in 2018 as a Non-Executive Director and then became Co-Chief Operating Officer in 2021. She took on the Co-CEO role in March 2022, reporting into Chief Executive Stuart Machin as the retailer ramped up its turnaround plan.
M&S stated that having helped deliver a marked improvement in the group’s performance, Bickerstaffe was moving on to take other board roles in line with its original transition plan.
“I’m very grateful to Katie for her support in seeing M&S through this important period in the reshaping of the business. We now have a much stronger business, and she will move on with our very best wishes,” commented Machin.
Bickerstaffe added: “I took on the Co-CEO role to support Stuart as he succeeded to Chief Executive Officer and because of my love for the brand and my determination to see the transformation of M&S through to the next stage. We have built a strong team, made great progress, and it is now right that the business and function heads report directly to Stuart.”
After years of failed turnaround strategies, M&S is finally reaping the rewards of a major investment programme to improve the quality and value of its clothing and food, upgrade its technology and e-commerce operations, and overhaul its store estate.
The group reported better-than-expected Christmas trading in both its clothing and food divisions. Industry data released this week showed M&S was the UK’s fastest-growing store-based food retailer.
NAM Implications:
- All set for the next steps forward…
- Time for suppliers to reassess and refine their M&S trade strategies…
- …to optimise their relationships with the UK’s fastest-growing store-based food retailer.
