• Multichannel executive director Laura Wade-Gery extends maternity leave to full year 
  • She had previously planned to return next month
  • Wade-Gery tipped as possible successor to Marc Bolland

Marks & Spencer multichannel executive director Laura Wade-Gery has extended her maternity leave to a full year to now return in September 2016.

Wade-Gery had planned to return to work early next month. However, the retailer said she will now be back in her post on September 1 next year. 

M&S first revealed plans for Wade-Gery’s absence in August.

Laura Wade-Gery

Laura Wade-Gery

Laura Wade-Gery went on maternity leave in September and will now take a full year

Helen Weir, M&S’s chief finance officer, will continue to have responsibility for ecommerce distribution. Sacha Berendji, director of retail, and David Walmsley, director of M&S.com, will continue to report to the retailer’s chief executive, Marc Bolland.

Wade-Gery, who has been touted as a potential successor to Bolland, joined M&S in 2011, moving from Tesco where she was chief executive of Tesco.com. During her 14 years at Tesco she held roles such as group strategy director and targeted marketing director.

In July last year, she took on extra responsibility for UK retail as part of M&S’s multichannel strategy.