Katie Bickerstaffe has been appointed as Marks and Spencer’s new chief strategy and transformation director from the 27th April, leaving her current role as a non-executive director. 

Bickerstaffe was previously executive chair of SSE Energy Services, one of the largest household energy and services providers in Great Britain. Until April 2018, Katie was also chief executive of Dixons Carphone, where she led the transformation of Dixons’ retail estate, e-commerce business and the launch of the ‘knowhow’ services.

In her new role, she will be accountable for developing and overseeing the delivery of the business’s strategic transformation programmes. She will also lead the Strategy team, M&S Bank and Energy teams and IT. Bickerstaffe will replace former strategy director, Melanie Smith, who is now the CEO of Ocado Retail.

Speaking of her appointment, Bickerstaffe said: “Marks & Spencer is a fantastic brand with huge potential. I’m really looking forward to working with the management team to step-up the pace of the transformation.”

Steve Rowe, CEO of M&S, added: “Katie has been a great help to me and the wider management team in her role as a non-executive director and I am delighted that she will now be part of the executive team. Her experience in leading roles at UK food and non-food retailers and track record of delivering large-scale change will be invaluable as we accelerate our transformation.”