Steve Rowe will step down as chief government of Marks & Spencer in Might after six years within the job, with the British retailer choosing continuity by selecting two of his senior lieutenants as his joint successors.
r Rowe, who joined M&S on the age of 15 earlier than rising by the ranks, will step down after the meals and clothes retailer reviews annual outcomes on Might 25.
His tenure in one of the vital high-profile jobs in British enterprise has been turbulent as he, together with chairman Archie Norman, has sought to remodel M&S by bettering the standard and worth of its clothes and meals merchandise, overhauling its retailer property and investing closely in expertise and e-commerce, together with a enterprise with Ocado that took M&S meals on-line for the primary time.
Having steered the retailer by the pandemic he exits as hopes are rising that one in every of Britain’s most elusive turnarounds might lastly materialise after greater than a decade of false dawns.
M&S shares, which closed yesterday at 159 pence, had been buying and selling at practically 4 kilos when Mr Rowe grew to become CEO in April 2016.
The group mentioned present joint chief working officers, Stuart Machin and Katie Bickerstaffe, will take over Mr Rowe’s duties in an unconventional construction.
Mr Machin will develop into CEO and can tackle accountability for day-to-day management of the enterprise and the manager committee.
He’ll hold oversight of his present duties, which embody the management of M&S’s meals enterprise, in addition to operations, property, retailer improvement and expertise, and can tackle accountability for human assets and company communications.
Ms Bickerstaffe will develop into co-CEO with a deal with driving M&S’s technique of promoting throughout a number of platforms, whereas retaining her present duties for clothes & house, MS2, worldwide and monetary companies.
Each Mr Machin and Ms Bickerstaffe will be a part of M&S’s board on Might 25.
“The board’s view is that underneath the present workforce, the enterprise has made outstanding progress and that continuity of technique and management is advantageous,” M&S mentioned.
Nonetheless, some analysts mentioned it contradicted M&S’s desire for a leaner construction.
