M&S appoints new chief strategy and transformation director

Marks and Spencer has appointed Katie Bickerstaffe as its new chief strategy and transformation director.

Bickerstaffe is currently a non-executive director of Marks and Spencer, and will take up her role on 27 April. She will serve on the board and operating committee as an executive director.

She previously held the position of executive chair of SSE Energy Services, and later joined Dixons Carphone in 2008, where she held the position of CEO and was appointed to the board four years later. 

Bickerstaffe has also worked with a number of food retailers and consumer companies including Save, PepsiCo, Unilever, Dyson and Somerfield where she was retail MD and is currently a non-executive director of the England and Wales Cricket Board. 

She succeeds Melanie Smith, who is now CEO of Ocado Retail.

Bickerstaffe said: “Marks & Spencer is a fantastic brand with huge potential. I’m really looking forward to working with the management team to step-up the pace of the transformation.”

Steve Rowe, CEO, added: “Katie has been a great help to me and the wider management team in her role as a non-executive director and I am delighted that she will now be part of the executive team. 

“Her experience in leading roles at UK food and non-food retailers and track record of delivering large-scale change will be invaluable as we accelerate our transformation.”