M&S on a recruitment spree

The British high street brand, Marks & Spencer (M&S) retailing in India through a joint venture

with Reliance Retail, is now recruiting some top level officials to manage its affairs. The company recently poached business veteran Jan Heere from rival fashion retailer Inditex who will be given the responsibility of expanding the company’s international business into emerging markets. Heere is understood to have been in-charge of Inditex’s Russian business, which has 176 stores, and industry experts feel that his business experience of emerging markets would be invaluable to M&S.

Having been in India since 2001, M&S has got its dose of reality check about its strategy in India and its chief executive Marc Bolland intends to boost profits by targeting further expansion in fast-growing markets like India and China. At Bolland’s first major strategy presentation in November he set a target to lift international sales to between £800 million and £1 billion within four years.
In keeping with its new strategy of high-level appointments, M&S has also recently hired Laura Wade-Gery, the chief executive of Tesco’s online business, to head up its e-commerce division. Wade-Gery was regarded as one of Tesco’s indispensable asset and her defection was judged to have been a major coup for Bolland.

James Munson will now head the company’s retail and marketing division in India and Maneesh Gaur will lead the management of the property and projects to steer the programme for launching new outlets. While Munson holds 14 years experience in retail and has been associated with M&S, UK since 2006, Gaur has been associated with India’s biggest retailer Shoppers Stop for six years and had held several leadership positions across global retailers and the hospitality sector. Martin Jones, CEO of M&S Reliance India feels that the sharp business insight and retail proficiency of these two will add value to their business and aid growth in the country.