Former Boohoo Chief John Lyttle Takes Top Clothing Role at Marks & Spencer
LONDON — John Lyttle, formerly chief executive officer of Boohoo Group, will join Marks & Spencer as managing director of clothing, home and beauty as the retail giant looks to maintain its fashion momentum.
Lyttle left Boohoo last year after five years in the CEO role, and prior to that spent nine years at Primark as chief operating officer. He will succeed Richard Price, who took up the key clothing role in 2020 and added a fresh dose of energy to the struggling division.
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Under Price, M&S brought Sienna Miller, Bella Freud and Kelly Hoppen on board for clothing and home collaborations, helped diversify the denim offer, and sharpened the seasonal menswear and womenswear collections to compete with the best of the high street brands.
The store said Lyttle’s appointment was part of a “planned succession,” and that Price would remain for a handover period before leaving to pursue a portfolio career.
In a further move, Maddy Evans, currently director of womenswear, will take on a broader role that includes lingerie. Her new title will be director of M&S woman.
David Brittain will be joining M&S as director of home and beauty at the end of April. He comes from Amazon, where he is currently business development director, Amazon Fashion, Europe.
Marks & Spencer CEO Stuart Machin said the clothing, home and beauty business “is now on a much stronger footing with improved product,” thanks to Price’s work.
“Style perceptions have increased consistently and our lead on quality and value has extended, driving growth in sales and market share. Richard leaves the business as a long-standing friend of M&S and we wish him the very best,” Machin added.
He said the store is moving into the next phase of its growth plan, and changes are already underway “to embed strategic sourcing partnerships, a modern planning platform, and an efficient logistics network. There is lots to do to develop a truly omnichannel” clothing, home and beauty business.
Machin added that Lyttle was ideal for the job due to his “extensive experience in driving strong, volume-based growth and supply chain transformation across store-based and pure play retailers. His down-to-earth leadership style fits with our sleeves-rolled-up, ‘tell it as it is’ culture, and I know he will be a brilliant colleague to work with.”
As reported, the focus on fashion has helped M&S rebuild its market share, and bring in a new generation of customers.
According to M&S, Sienna Miller’s first collaboration in 2023 drove a younger customer to the store, 10 years younger than the store average of 35- to 50-year-olds. It also sold through quickly, with more than 42,000 customers clicking “contact me when available” for the sold-out pieces.
“We’re obsessed with our style perceptions because a few years ago they weren’t particularly great. With Sienna’s help we’ve seen a massive improvement,” Price told WWD during a party in London’s Soho to launch Miller’s holiday capsule last year.
In October, Freud’s capsule of colorful slogan knitwear took the M&S team by surprise. The Oxford Street flagship, near Selfridges, was sold out within the day, leaving Machin regretting that M&S didn’t bet bigger on Bella.
“The Bella Freud range was a small buy, and just in two hours, we sold 9,000 jumpers. We know we could have been a bit bolder and bought bigger,” he said during the interim results presentation last year.
In the first fiscal half, M&S sales in the clothing and home category jumped 4.7 percent to 2.03 billion pounds. Adjusted operating profit in the division was up 0.5 percent to 242 million pounds compared with the corresponding period last year.
M&S said growth in the clothing and home division was driven by womenswear, with the store’s “style” perception continuing to improve.
In the half, clothing and home accounted for roughly one-third of overall M&S sales, with the majority of sales coming from food.
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