Executive director, multichannel ecommerce Marks & Spencer (2011 rank: 3)

Laura Wade-Gery

If Marks & Spencer’s etail queen can deliver the successful multichannel operation the retailer craves, the £4m ‘golden hello’ that helped lure Laura Wade-Gery from Tesco will prove money well spent.

Almost two years into the job and Wade-Gery and her team are well on the way to realising the retailer’s multichannel future. M&S’s multichannel store format, complete with wi-fi and QR codes, was launched in March and a dedicated multichannel warehouse is due to open next year.

Yet problems still exist. In particular, City analysts hold reservations about the pace and effectiveness of ecommerce development relative to M&S’s peers. The retailer is still operating from an Amazon platform; it is not possible to view in-store stock from the ordering points in a store and it takes three to five days for an item ordered in store to be delivered to the store.

Of course, these are not insurmountable problems for Wade-Gery, who is noted for her fierce intellect and tenacity. Having avoided taking the limelight too much since joining M&S, Wade-Gery took a high profile in August for the opening of the new M&S Cheshire Oaks store, which offers a glimpse into her vision of a multichannel future. New elements of the flagship store include free wi-fi, assistants equipped with iPads on the shopfloor, and the new-look beauty department on the ground floor offers ‘virtual makeovers’ using a large touchscreen.

But for M&S to fully reap the rewards of the multichannel age, a cultural, as well as technological, shift will need to take place. For example, Wade-Gery rejects the notion that because of its older demographic, multichannel retailing is less relevant to M&S and firmly believes in providing more ways for all consumers, regardless of their age, income or gender, to access its products and services.

Accomplishing her mission would mark Wade-Gery as a strong candidate to succeed Marc Bolland whenever he moves on from his role as chief executive.