Marks & Spencer hires new Retail Director
Marks & Spencer has appointed Thinus Keeve to the newly created role of Retail Director, effective from 6 June.
Keeve brings experience from Australian supermarket Coles, where he served as Chief Sustainability, Property & Export Officer until July 2022.
Prior to this, he held several leadership positions at the company starting in 2010, including Commercial & Property Director for over two years.
More recently, he was CEO and MD at Australian natural beauty company BWX Limited. He is also an investor in NanoCap Collective.
"Thinus joins M&S from Australia where he has spent the majority of his career, having worked in a number of senior leadership roles at Coles," Stuart Machin, CEO at Marks & Spencer, told Grocery Gazette.
"In his new role, Thinus will have accountability for all M&S stores across the UK and ROI, as well as central store operations.
"Like all new senior leaders, Thinus will spend his first month working in stores getting close to colleagues and close to customers.
"Following this, to ensure stores remain at the very heart of our decision-making across M&S, in July he will also join our ExCo team."
The appointment comes during a challenging period for Marks & Spencer, as the retailer continues to deal with the fallout from a major cyber attack.
The disruption is expected to persist until July and could cost the company approximately £300 million.
Despite this, CEO Stuart Machin described the incident as a "bump in the road" and said he hopes the company will come out "in a better shape".
The company is currently undergoing a major transformation programme, which is including changes to its shop estate.
The retailer, which currently has 565 stores, said it plans to have 600 stores by 2028, comprising 420 bigger food stores and 180 full clothing, home and food stores.
It added that the plan is still on track despite the recent disruption.
M&S also said it has accelerated plans to invest in improvements to its technology to now take place over the next six months, after previously indicating it would take two years.
