Selfridges group has hired Chanel director Chris May to the newly created role of group business development director.
May joins on December 1 and will report to Selfridges group managing director Paul Kelly.
The new appointment comes as the department store group, which consists of Selfridges in the UK, Brown Thomas department store in Ireland, de Bijenkorf in the Netherlands and Holt Renfrew in Canada, begins a £300m redevelopment of its London Oxford Street store.
Selfridges will double the size of its handbag area and expand its overall retail space by around 10%.
A Selfridges Group spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that Chris May will be joining Selfridges group on Dec 1 as group business development director, reporting to Paul Kelly, group managing director. We believe his experience and expertise will be valuable to the businesses within the group.”
Earlier this month, Selfridges reported record operating profits as a result of surging sales following major growth of its overseas online business.
Operating profits jumped 12.3% to a record £150m for the year ending December 2013 as sales increased 10.4% to £1.2bn.
Selfridges reported rapid growth online after it switched on international delivery in August 2013. It now ships to over 60 countries including China.
The record profits marked the 10th anniversary of the Weston family’s acquisition of the department store business.
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