Argos has appointed Henrietta Baring to the newly created position of head of IT, commercial and supply chain to help it become a “digital retail leader”.

Baring will report to IT director Mike Sackman and will help Argos to deliver its strategy of  ‘More Choice, Available Faster’ by managing the integration of supply chain infrastructure and supporting customer facing developments, such as its digital stores.

Baring joins from packaging specialist Ardagh Group, where she led and delivered large scale and complex transformational programmes, Argos said. She has also previously worked at Diageo.

Sackman said: “Technology is at the heart of the Argos transformation and as we build our capabilities to ensure we have a fully integrated supply chain. This is crucial to allow us to respond quickly and effectively to the marketplace.

“Her areas of focus will be on systems that show real time product availability and reduce lead times to customers, and systems that process millions of customer orders for local in store pickup or for home delivery.”

Baring said: “In my experience, it is crucial to have cross-business support and collaboration for major complex infrastructure projects to work and that is absolutely what we have here. With such passionate stakeholders involved I know that customers are starting to see the benefits of the plan working for them.”