M&S Shuffles Closer to Customers

The new Chief Executive of British high street legend Marks & Spencer has promoted head of marketing Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne and halved the size of the company's operating committee as the retailer looks to speed up decision-making and put the customer 'at the heart of everything it does'.

M&S' food division continues to thrive, while its clothing sales have declined for 18 of the last 19 quarters, despite a previous attempt to be more customer-centric by redesigning stores to suit local customer profiles, five years ago. Steve Rowe (pictured), who joined the company at the age of 20 in 1989 and took over the role of CEO earlier this year, will announced a more detailed restructuring plan in two weeks' time.

Five directors including digital director David Walmsley are leaving the company as a result of the latest changes. Bousquet-Chavanne drops responsibility for international business and adds responsibility for a new look online business, environmental initiatives and marketing. He reports directly into Rowe and takes the title of Executive Director of Customer, Marketing and M&S.com.

Multi-channel Director Laura Wade-Gery, who had been tipped for the top job a year ago, is on maternity leave and the company says it will provide details of her new responsibilities when she returns. While the executive director board slims down from six to four members, the operating committee is slashed from twenty to ten, reports www.telegraph.co.uk .

Rowe said of the latest changes: 'On my first day as CEO, I committed to putting M&S customers at the heart of everything we do. These changes reflect this: a simpler management structure with a smaller, more focused team running M&S will lead to more efficient decision making and move us closer to our customers'.

Web site: www.marksandspencer.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.