Primark appoints ex-New Look exec as Head of Ethical Trade for Europe
Primark has appointed Sue Fairley as its new Head of Ethical Trade for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia (EMEAA), strengthening its leadership team as the value retailer sharpens its focus on responsible sourcing and sustainability.
Fairley joins from New Look, where she spent more than nine years in senior roles spanning sustainability, sourcing and quality. Most recently, she served as Senior Head of ESG, Sourcing and Quality.
Her career in fashion spans more than two decades. Before New Look, she held senior technical and product roles at Charles Tyrwhitt and Boden, and earlier founded and directed consultancy Quality Headquarters Ltd.
In her new position at Primark, Fairley will be responsible for driving the company’s ethical trade agenda across a vast international footprint. She will play a key role in supporting the rollout of the Primark Cares strategy, which aims to make more sustainable fashion affordable for all, including commitments to improve supply chain transparency, strengthen workers’ rights, and halve the company’s carbon footprint by 2030.
Primark has been accelerating its investment in ethical trade and ESG expertise in recent years, as scrutiny over supply chains and environmental impact continues to intensify across the retail sector. Fairley’s appointment comes at a pivotal time, as the business works to balance affordability with mounting regulatory and consumer expectations around sustainability.
This announcement follows other recent leadership appointments as Primark invests in its digital and customer functions. In July 2025, Matt Houston was named Chief Customer and Digital Officer, uniting the retailer’s Customer and Digital teams under a single leadership role. Houston, who previously served as Group Strategy and Digital Director, will oversee the entire end-to-end customer experience and has led initiatives including the nationwide roll-out of Click & Collect and the relaunch of Primark’s website.
