Laura Wade-Gery starts work at Marks & Spencer today, as executive director for multichannel e-commerce, expected to focus on powering up sales of M&S’ online non-food business.
Cheltenham Ladies College and Oxford-educated Wade-Gery was poached from Tesco in February. News of the appointment was well-received in the City, and boosted the M&S share price 13% on the day, such is her reputation as a hot property in the world of ecommerce. At Tesco Wade-Grey was CEO of Tesco.com and Tesco Direct and had just been promoted to head up Tesco’s non-food empire when M&S came calling.
Marc Bolland, M&S chief executive has set out an ambitious plan for multichannel to drive growth here in the UK, and in France and beyond as international is developed.
He said: “Her appointment is in line with the plans we announced last November to grow our multi-channel e-commerce business both in the UK and internationally. Laura brings a wealth of relevant experience to M&S and we are all very much looking forward to working with her.”
Great things are expected of Wade-Gery, who can boast a powerful combination of skills: technical knowledge, understanding of how to develop a dynamic web proposition, and customer insight.
“She will be joining the M&S board with a special remit to ensure the company’s multichannel strategy is followed through and delivered with passion and panache,” said a source close to the company.
