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Shop Direct reshapes board leading to departure of retail director Jon Rudoe

Lauretta Roberts
25 July 2018

Shop Direct, parent of Very.co.uk and Littlewoods, has reshaped its executive board under new CEO Henry Birch in a move that has led to the departure of group retail, technology and data director Jon Rudoe.

The etail giant has brought together its etail and product teams under one executive board member, Sam Perkins, who was formerly group product director and will lead the new combined function as group retail director.

Shop Direct is also in the process of recruiting a permanent chief technology officer to sit on the executive board. Until then, interim CIO, JM Domaingue, will report to Birch. As a result of the changes Rudoe has decided to step down from his role.

“Reshaping our executive board in this way is a big and important change for Shop Direct and reflects how serious we are about building a truly customer-centric digital business in order to create a winning customer experience," said Birch, who joined the business from Rank Group earlier this year to replace Alex Baldock who left to join Carphone Warehouse.

Shop Direct

Henry Birch

“Bringing together our product and retail teams will drive improved collaboration, which in turn will enable us to start to change the way we buy and sell products. This will have significant benefits for our customers, helping us to serve them better by developing a clearer, more joined-up understanding of their needs. I’m confident that Sam Perkins brings the strategic focus, commercial know-how and leadership skills to drive forward this important new function.

“Technology already plays a vital role in our business and it will continue to grow in strategic importance as we move forward. Having a heavy-hitting CTO at the boardroom table will ensure that we remain ahead of the curve and geared up to adapt to technological developments," Birch added.

Birch thanked Rudoe for his "significant contribution" to the business and said that he had "led our digital transformation, oversaw the realignment of our ecommerce team to the customer journey, and elevated the importance of technology and data intelligence at board level. We have much to be grateful to him for and he leaves with our thanks and best wishes for the future."

Rudoe had been with Shop Direct since April of last year and prior to that held senior digital and online roles with supermarket Sainsbury's and before that Ocado.

Earlier this month Shop Direct appointed former Jack Wills chief product officer Emma Alexander as fashion director to head up its branded and own brand clothing and footwear offerings, reporting to Perkins.

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