Shop Direct appoints ex-Clarks president as new CFO

Shop Direct has appointed former European president of Clarks Shoes, Ben Fletcher, as its new group chief financial officer.

He will commence his role on 6 January 2020 and will report to CEO Henry Birch as a member of Shop Direct’s executive board. 

Fletcher, who is currently a non-executive board member at the British Retail Consortium, will lead Shop Direct’s finance team. He will assume the position currently held on an interim basis by Dominic Appleton, who will remain with Shop Direct as finance director.

Having joined Clarks in 2017, Fletcher led European retail and wholesale, where he was responsible for customer-centric investments including a new European fulfilment centre, delivering significant digital expansion and increasing colleague engagement.

Before joining Clarks Shoes Ben Fletcher was at Walgreens Boots Alliance for six years, where he most recently became a managing director of Boots Opticians.

Fletcher said: “Shop Direct is an ambitious business with an outstanding history and an exciting future. Its transformation to date has been industry-leading, but there’s still work to do.

“I’m excited to be joining a business that’s at the centre of retail, financial services and digital, and squarely focused on understanding and serving its customers even better.”

Henry Birch, group CEO at Shop Direct, added: “Ben is an outstanding finance and general management leader, who has consistently delivered growth across large and complex consumer businesses. 

“He’s proven to be customer and colleague-focused, with significant experience in online. He’ll play a vital part as we invest to be the number one destination for shoppers who value a combination of leading brands and flexible ways to pay.”