M&S hires strategist Melanie Smith and all the May people moves

Smith may lack the profile within the retail sector of recent newcomers Archie Norman and Jill McDonald but her appointment is arguably just as significant.

Although her job spec has not yet been revealed, the onus on any strategy director is to look beyond the next quarter, and indeed the next year, to understand how the business should look in five or even 10 years’ time.

These type of director-level roles – just as commonly described as business transformation, consumer insight or digital – form a large part of our assignments and are all about transitioning a business from one state to another.

Cerebral people

The majority of retailers are trying to reposition themselves from ‘bricks’ to ‘clicks’ businesses in line with changing consumer habits.

Driving this change are cerebral people such as Smith whose task is to understand how the retail environment will change in the years ahead, what consumers will want from retail brands, and what their own customers will look like.

“There’s no reason the retailer cannot become the force of old – just don’t expect it to happen overnight”

This is particularly relevant to M&S, which has faced accusations of being slower to respond to the shift to online than some competitors.

If Smith can relieve some of the burden on Steve Rowe and work effectively with the likes of McDonald, Norman and M&S.com boss Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne to accelerate M&S’s recovery, there’s no reason the retailer cannot become the force of old – just don’t expect it to happen overnight.

Impressive CV

Smith, who is currently managing director of boutique consumer goods advisory and investment boutique Smith Hebert, is an interesting choice for the newly created strategy role and may turn out to be another clever hire by Rowe.

Her CV is impressive and diverse with more than a decade at McKinsey to her name in addition to senior roles at Talk Talk and Bupa.

The M&S leadership team suddenly has a very fresh look to it.

“The sense is that Rowe is thinking about the bigger picture with his recent senior hires”

While there remains a core of people with strong and specific skillsets within the business, the sense is that Rowe is thinking about the bigger picture with his recent senior hires.

Like McDonald, Smith comes from a largely non-fashion background. This is instructive since it implies that Rowe believes the challenges facing M&S’s fashion division extend beyond the products themselves.

And while food is ticking along nicely there is surely more that M&S can do to leverage food’s success across the wider business.

It may take years to determine whether Smith has been a success in her role – M&S is a juggernaut that will not turn quickly. But the intent is clear for all to see. Now comes the bigger challenge of delivery.