Marks & Spencer’s new strategy director Melanie Smith joins the retailer this week. Retail Week takes a closer look at her background and career.

New Zealander Melanie Smith arrives at M&S, where she will have a seat on the operating committee, with a varied portfolio of roles on her CV and a big challenge ahead.

Smith, whose most recent experience includes being managing director of boutique consumer goods advisory and investment boutique Smith Hebert, is likely to play a key part in setting the retailer’s direction from her post – a new position at M&S.

The retailer has not detailed her duties but said her role was “designed to look forward and develop future growth opportunities as we continue to recover the business”.

Dual-division shoppers

Retail Week Prospect senior analyst Rebecca Marks points to the gap between the fortunes of the retailer’s food and clothing and home divisions as a key area that Smith may be tasked with attempting to bridge.

“The long and short of it is that many people have tried to turn it around and it’s a pretty difficult task”

Mark Photiades, Cantor Fitzgerald

“As three quarters of M&S’ revenue comes from customers who spend across food and clothing, she will be focused on not only increasing the average basket value of these shoppers, but also looking at how the business can acquire further dual-division shoppers as it looks to unite these areas, as seen with its new marketing campaign,” she says.

But her role is also likely to be wider ranging.

Peel Hunt analyst Jonathan Pritchard says: “In the shorter term the obvious opportunities are within food as they’re clearly looking to open more Simply Foods.

“But I wonder whether it’s looking at where online opportunities are too – or, rather, where the opportunities online are and the opportunities offline are not.”

Smith is the latest in a string of prominent appointments at M&S, notably including Halfords chief executive Jill McDonald who will be in charge of clothing and home, and new chairman Archie Norman.

But Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Mark Photiades cautions against assuming that these external appointments will make a material difference to the retailer’s performance.

“There is definitely some ’hope value’ from investors, as we saw in the share price, because they have made a number of high-profile appointments, but the long and short of it is that many people have tried to turn it around and it’s a pretty difficult task.” 

“[Former M&S chief executive Marc] Bolland brought in a number of big hires and nothing changed.”

Smith’s skills

So what experience does Smith bring?

The law graduate attended the University of Auckland and spent one year at law firm Buddle Findlay before moving to the States to complete an MBA at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

“Another senior hire for M&S demonstrates the intensity of change needed in its turnaround plan”

Rebecca Marks, Retail Week Prospect

She then spent a year at Goldman Sachs before moving to management consultancy McKinsey where she clearly found a groove, staying for 12 years and becoming a partner in the process.

At both she focused on consumer goods, gaining particular grocery expertise at McKinsey.

She then jumped in-house to telecommunications business Talk Talk as executive director of operations and integration, taking responsibility for the integration with Tiscali and sitting on the board.

A year and half later, she moved to Bupa as global marketing and strategy director before moving to Smith Herbert.

Smith has numerous non-executive roles under her belt, mainly with organisations connected to the Māori community, to which she belongs.

She is, for instance, an advisory board member of Manaia, a London-based company which performs traditional Māori arts at venues such as Glastonbury Festival, the National Theatre and the Tribeca Film Festival.

She has also set up a fund to help young Māori women through tertiary education and is on the board of eating disorder charity Beat.

How much of a difference Smith will make to M&S’ fortunes remains to be seen.

Retail Week Prospect’s Marks observes: “Another senior hire for M&S demonstrates the intensity of change needed in its turnaround plan, evident after a year of Steve Rowe doing a hefty share by himself.”

M&S’ share price rallied at its full-year results. But it will take much longer to revive the business itself, no matter the quality of the external appointments it makes.