Retail giant M&S has seen big changes at the top after Steve Rowe stepped down as chief executive last week.
Former chief operating officer Stuart Machin has taken over as CEO, and will take on responsibility for day-to-day leadership of the business. He has held senior operational and commercial roles across the UK and internationally, including at Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Asda.
Katie Bickerstaffe has been made co-chief executive. She has held a number of roles at M&S including non-executive director, chief strategy and transformation director and most recently, joint chief operating officer. She is a former chief executive, UK and Ireland, at Dixons Carphone.
Meanwhile, chief finance officer Eoin Tonge has been made chief strategy and finance officer. Tonge is a former CFO of Greencore Group, where he held positions including managing director and chief strategy officer of Greencore’s grocery business.
Archie Norman, M&S chair, commented: “The appointments we are making today 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.”