10/06/2004

Shake up at M&S continues as Radice departs

The first board-level casualty at M&S as Stuart Rose, the new Chief Executive of Marks and Spencer Group stamps his authority, is Vittorio Radice who leaves the company by "mutual consent" tomorrow.

The new M&S boss set out the shape of his management team as the company, which recently rejected a bid from retail entrepreneur Philip Green, announced succession plans for the non-executive directors on Wednesday.

Vittorio Radice, who was brought in to revamp the clothing division from Selfridges in March 2003, is to leave M&S this Friday. The clothing division is being passed to Maurice Helfgott who is currently in charge of the food section of the business.

Declaring the decision was taken by "mutual consent", Stuart Rose said: "Vittorio is a hugely talented retailer and we would like to thank him for his valuable contribution to the Company during his time here. We wish him well."

Vittorio Radice said: "I enjoyed my year at Marks & Spencer enormously and we achieved a lot. This is a very exciting time for the icon brand on the high street. I wish the new team at Marks & Spencer well for the future."

On Friday, Maurice Helfgott will change desk from Executive Director, Food to Executive Director of Menswear, Childrenswear and Home. Guy Farrant will take on interim responsibility for the Food division, reporting directly to Stuart Rose. The search for an Executive Director of Food will begin immediately.

Stuart Rose also confirmed the roles of Charles Wilson and Steven Sharp, both of whom joined the management team with him. Charles Wilson, Executive Director, will be in charge of Property, IT and Supply Chain and will work with the Chief Executive on strategy. Steven Sharp will sit on the Executive Committee and will be responsible for Marketing, Store Development and Design.

Chief Executive Stuart Rose said: "We have a huge opportunity at Marks & Spencer and some very talented people. We wanted to move quickly to ensure we have the right people in the right roles so we can move forward."

The Board has also reviewed its succession plans for the Non-Executive Directors. In a statement the company said that the first such appointment will "start to re-establish the balance between Executive and Non-Executive Directors".

(SP)

Related Northern Ireland Business News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

17 June 2004
M&S reject revised offer from Revival
Marks & Spencer have rejected an increased offer from retail entrepreneur Philip Green's company Revival Acquisitions. Following a meeting between Marks & Spencer's Chairman Paul Myners and Chief Executive Stuart Rose, who met with Philip Green and a representative of Goldman Sachs yesterday afternoon, the substantially increased bid was rejected.
01 June 2004
Rose takes over as M&S chief as Green bid looms
The Board of Marks & Spencer announced today that Stuart Rose has been appointed as Chief Executive of the troubled high street retail group. Stuart Rose will replace Roger Holmes with "immediate effect" and his first challenge will be dealing with an anticipated bid for M&S of around £10 billion from the owner of Bhs and Arcadia, Philip Green.
10 January 2006
M&S report strong Christmas sales
Marks & Spencer has reported strong sales during the Christmas period. The High Street retailer saw like-for-like sales in the UK increase by 2.9% in the 13 weeks to the end of December. Marks & Spencer saw overall UK sales grow by 4.8% during the quarter. However, while food sales increased strongly, increasing by 7.
25 July 2006
Women in more profitable UK boardrooms
Women are continuing to break through the 'glass ceiling' of British business, according to the latest survey of UK directors. The survey by business analysts Experian found that female directors are also more likely to be involved in profitable businesses – 57.6% of all female directors are involved in companies that make a profit, compared to 56.
11 November 2003
Record number of women on FTSE boards
The number of female directorships in the FTSE 100 has topped 100 for the first time, according to new research.