Stuart Machin, former Harveys and Bensons for Beds ceo is to become Marks & Spencer joint chief executive.
Steve Rowe, Marks & Spencer boss for the past six year is to step down on 25 May. H will leave the company on 5 July – the chain’s AGM but ‘in view of his wisdom and formidable knowledge of the business’ has agreed to remain as an adviser for up to a year.
Machin will share the title with Katie Bickerstaffe, chief strategy and transformation officer but will be responsible for day-to-day leadership of the business and the executive committee.
Machin ran the furniture and beds chains from August 2017 to March 2018 before joining Marks & Spencer.
He will continue to have oversight of his current management areas, including food, operations, property, store development and technology but will also take on HR and corporate communications.
Bickerstaffe will focus on omnichannel, digital and data, and will maintain responsibility for clothing and home, MS2, international and financial services, in her joint role.
Eoin Tonge, Marks & Spencer cfo becomes chief strategy and finance officer.
Rowe, who joined the chain from school, previously ran its home operation before taking the top job in 2016. Under his leadership the chain has closed stores, invested in massively in its Ocado Retail joint venture and restored profits.
‘It has been an enormous privilege to lead the business I love and have spent almost all my career working for. Leaving will be in many ways very difficult for me but I feel that after six hard years it is the right time to pass on the baton. A piece of my heart will always remain with the M&S family, and I feel that we have done many of the hard yards to restore the business to what it should be. I’m proud that I am leaving a very strong team who will lead it into the next growth phase. I wish them every success,’ says Rowe.
‘The appointments bring together a very strong leadership team to take the business into the next stage of its transformation. Both Stuart and Katie are outstanding high impact leaders with very strong track records and experience of leading businesses through transformative change. With Eoin, they make a very powerful leadership team able to span the full breadth of our businesses. Given the very strong recent progress we have made, keeping up the pace and momentum is critical. We are delighted to have brought together three exceptional individuals who, with the support of the executive committee, will provide vision, energy and pace for this next phase,’ says Archie Norman, Marks & Spencer chairman.
Norman says Rowe had been a ‘magnificent servant of M&S’ and put his ‘heart and soul into the job. Coming from the shop floor to lead the business, he epitomises our values and has lived and breathed M&S for so many years. The M&S he took over was in parlous shape and throughout my tenure he has been fearless in grasping the nettles and facing into the challenges and has delivered massive progress. As we move into the next growth phase, he leaves a very strong team to take the business forward.’
