New Look has appointed Warehouse’s Kate Walmsley to head its ecommerce and digital operations, Retail Week can reveal.

Kate walmsley

Kate Walmsley

She started at the struggling fashion retailer as ecommerce and digital director earlier this year and reports directly to executive chairman Alistair McGeorge. 

Before joining Warehouse as customer director in 2016, Walmsley served a seven-year tenure at Arcadia and became Topshop’s first global digital director.

Since the appointment of McGeorge last year there has been a raft of people changes.

New Look creditors will have their say on the retailer’s proposed company voluntary arrangement (CVA).

If they vote in favour of the plan, New Look will close up to 60 stores and axe almost 1,000 jobs as it strives to “improve the operational performance of the company”.

Since the appointment of McGeorge last year, there have been a flurry of people changes at New Look, including the appointment of new UK and Ireland retail director Mark Axon.

McGeorge, who previously turned around New Look’s flagging fortunes, is pursuing a radically different strategy, pulling away from the highly competitive young fashion market in favour of a broader customer base.