Disruptors

Matthew Barnes
Chief executive, Tesco UK 

Matthew Barnes is the poacher turned gamekeeper at Tesco, joining the UK’s largest retailer as chief executive in March having been the scourge of the grocery establishment as managing director of Aldi UK and – more recently – part of Aldi Sud’s board.

Analysts view Barnes’ appointment as a coup for Tesco as he was one of the key architects of Aldi’s rise in the UK grocery scene, and has extensive experience recruiting customers and driving growth. 

Tesco Group chief executive Ken Murphy cited Barnes’ “extensive retail experience, competitive spirit and challenger mindset” when welcoming him to the fold as Jason Tarry’s replacement and said the new recruit will “evolve our thinking about what customers will want from Tesco in the future”.

Barnes’ appointment by Tesco is the ultimate recognition of the powerful role he has played in shaking up the UK grocery status quo. Over the coming 12 months it will be intriguing to see he how he brings his food market acumen to a much more complex – and larger – operation.

 

Philip and Tom Beahon
Founders, Castore

Ones to watch in 2023, the co-founders of burgeoning sports brand Castore cement their inaugural place in the Retail 100 list this year after another successful period of retail disruption.

Philip and Tom Beahon have overseen the brand’s rapid rise – with it now hitting revenue of £50m to put it on track for a desired £1bn valuation – as it looks to follow in the footsteps of fellow British sports brand Gymshark.

The Beahon brothers hope a fresh £145m cash injection from a round led by Raine Partners in November 2023 will accelerate this ambition, but it is their thirst to form intriguing collaborations that has supported growth to date. Former world number one tennis player Andy Murray is a Castore backer and he went into partnership to launch the sports star’s own AMC brand in 2019. The brothers also secured a tie-up with Oracle Red Bull Racing in February 2024.

Castore plans to open 24 flagship stores in the UK and Ireland by the end of 2024, while its growing influence on UK retail is highlighted by Tom Beahon’s appointment to prime minister Rishi Sunak’s business council in February.

Jens and Emma Grede
Co-founder and chief executive/founding partner, Skims

Often referenced as celebrity Kim Kardashian’s brand, it is in fact co-founder and chief executive Jens Grede and founding partner Emma Grede who are providing the strategic leadership behind the fashion sensation.

Skims – which sells underwear, loungewear and shapewear, and focuses on body positivity and sizing inclusivity, which is often a forgotten factor in modern fashion – was valued at $4bn (£3.09bn) in July 2023. This came from a Series C funding round of $270m (£208.8m) led by independent investment management firm Wellington Management.

The injection of funding is being put towards product innovation and new category expansion, but the Gredes, who are husband and wife, have stores on their mind. One in LA is due to open in 2024, while others – including in the UK – are being targeted after early experiments in bricks and mortar via a Selfridges pop-up in June 2023.

New product lines, including unique clothing items, are also top of the priority list for the Gredes. For instance, in October 2023, Skims launched its controversial ‘nipple bra’ – with moulded faux erect nipples – which sold out in just a month of launch.

Jenna Meek and Jess Hunt
Co-founders, Refy

Making their Retail 100 debut is Jenna Meek and Jess Hunt, co-founders of fast-growing beauty brand Refy. Meek is also the founder of haircare brand Shrine and Hunt is an influencer with 1.8 million followers on Instagram alone – and between them they are shaking up the cosmetics industry.

Despite only launching four years ago, the business is generating more than £24m in annual revenue. It is a profitable organisation with zero external investment, making it an incredible story.

Under the tagline “simplifying beauty”, Meek and Hunt have helped Refy become a viral sensation on TikTok and Instagram with 2.5 million likes and almost 800,000 followers respectively– the modern hallmark of a successful breakthrough retail business.

Refy secured a listing in Sephora in the US and Canada just six months after launch, and this wholesale partnership has helped the brand grow in prominence, supporting its core direct-to-consumer model. It has also been stocked in Selfridges since 2021.

Meek and Hunt’s influence remains strong, with the former revealing at Retail Week Live that the duo had turned down a £15m expansion contract in the Middle East to focus on refining the business themselves.

Jody Plows
Chief executive, Nobody's Child

Ascending from one to watch 2023 to the Retail 100 2024 is Nobody’s Child chief executive Jody Plows – the former senior merchandiser at Reiss, F&F Clothing and New Look – who has been putting the fashion brand on the retail map.

Plows is pursuing a click-to-bricks strategy, with Nobody’s Child set to open 48 shop-in-shops in Marks & Spencer stores by the end of 2024. This follows initial success with the wholesale partnership that has formed a central part of M&S’ new brand strategy, with M&S having acquired a 25% stake in Nobody’s Child in November 2021.

Improving sustainability credentials is a key priority for Plows. Last November, the retailer launched a rental offering and, more recently this March, Plows led Nobody’s Child as it became one of the first companies to widely launch digital product passports (DPP). This improves transparency of its supply chain and helps give the business a head start as DPP becomes a standard industry feature in the coming years.

Overseas expansion is also on the cards. In April 2024, Plows exclusively revealed to Retail Week that the business had opened in US stores Nordstrom and Von Maur as part of the business’ plan to accelerate growth in America, with expansion also planned for the UAE.

Doug Putman
Owner, HMV

From disrupted to disruptor, HMV has gone full circle in the past few years – and that is in large part due to its owner, Doug Putman. Since buying the entertainment retailer out of administration in 2019, Putman has helped secure the business’ turnaround by going against the grain of modern retail.

HMV’s annual profits soared from £2m to £5.3m in the year to May 2023, with the extensive vinyl selection and a focus on Korean music genre K-pop helping to bring shoppers back to the business online and in store. Sales rose from £151m to £178m during the same period.

Putman’s vision to ride the wave of the vinyl revival, while also recognising the importance of bricks and mortar in an increasingly digital retail landscape by bringing back HMV’s famous London Oxford Street location in November 2023, means he has brought the buzz back to an old retail favourite.

Five years after administration, HMV claimed the Specialty Retailer of the Year accolade at the Retail Week Awards 2024, illustrating the extent of the Putman-led turnaround. It is unsurprising then that Putman has looked to rescue other brands in the same vein – he was among the interested parties in purchasing both Wilko and The Body Shop out of administration.

Saad Usman
Chief operating officer, Miniso

Chinese lifestyle retailer Miniso looks set to be a more prominent force in UK retail, following a lively last year during which it opened 28 UK stores, including its largest shop (in Camden) and a flagship destination on London’s Oxford Street.

With Chinese brands Temu and Shein disrupting the UK online retail scene, Miniso is a multichannel disruptor that is targeting 50 stores by the end of 2025.

It is a hit on TikTok with customers, and UK chief operating officer Saad Usman continues to talk up the company’s “life is for fun” mantra which is backed up by a novel strategy that includes the presence of cuddly mascot characters in store and the ambition of sparking joy for visitors with competitive pricing and regular surprises.

Reflecting on the store opening strategy, Usman said in 2022 the brand does not like “to rush locations” but sees the whole of the UK – notably Northern Ireland and Scotland – as suitable for Miniso shops.

Having posted a 26% revenue increase for the quarter ending March 31, 2024, to ¥3.7bn (£406m) and gross profits up 39.1% year on year to ¥1.6bn (£176m), Miniso is a fast-growing disruptive brand that the industry will be paying attention to over the coming year.

Trinny Woodall
Founder and chief executive, Trinny London

Trinny Woodall’s eponymous beauty brand Trinny London is has become a disruptive force in UK retail by targeting traditionally marginalised customers.

Indeed, the entrepreneur has been shaking up the burgeoning beauty market by focusing attention on the "invisible" woman. Generating over £50m in sales per annum and generating over half a million Instagram followers shows the reach of the brand, which only started in 2017.

Woodall’s ‘Plump Up Microneedle’ - a new dermaroller priced at £110 which makes tiny pricks over the skin to support collagen production - launched in 2024 and had a 5,000-person waiting list. This cult-like following is the sure sign of a disruptive industry force.

Marketing company Upbeat Agency released research in April showing Trinny London was the second most in-demand British celebrity-owned beauty brand, behind only actress and model Millie Bobby Brown’s 'Florence by Mills’ beauty range. Monthly searches for the brand averaged 99,000.

Woodall, who was one half of the famous TV fashion expert celebrity pair Trinny and Susannah, was a One to Watch in 2023 – but in 2024 she is indeed one to follow and warrants her debut entry on the list.

Joe Wykes
Chief executive, Jollyes

Petcare retailer Jollyes is having a strong year under the stewardship of chief executive Joe Wykes, gaining a reputation as a disruptor with grand store-opening plans.

Wykes, former Bensons for Beds chief operating officer, joined Jollyes as chief operating officer in July 2021 and was promoted to the top slot in May 2022. He has overseen the opening of 26 new shops in the past two years, with all of them trading profitably – a rare achievement in the current economic environment.

The retailer’s sales soared 33% to £115.5m in the year to May 2023; and in an industry where price inflation has been a key driver of growth Wykes has led the retailer to like-for-like growth exclusively from transaction growth, rather than hiking prices. It came as little surprise then when Jollyes was awarded the coveted Best Retailer Under £250m award at The Retail Week Awards 2024.

Private equity group TDR Capital acquired a majority stake in Jollyes in March, and ex-Asda boss Andy Bond has arrived as chair, providing backing to speed up the store-opening programme for Wykes to further disrupt the status quo and intensify its battle with market leader Pets at Home.

Chris Xu
Founder and chief executive, Shein

As founder and chief executive of Shein, Chris Xu is leading what – according to analytics firm GlobalData – was the world’s largest fashion retailer of 2023.

Shein doubled its profits in 2023 to reach $2bn (£1.6bn) with gross merchandise value coming in at $45bn (£36bn), which is more than was generated by competitors such as H&M and Primark. There is no denying Shein and Xu’s disruptor status – it is on a global and UK scale.

The rise of Shein is clearly a threat to fashion retailers, with Retail Week’s Top 30 UK Retailer Ranking positioning Shein at number 25 by 2027, with revenue ahead of Asos, Inditex and H&M. Three years ago, it was generating $15.7bn (£12.5bn) in sales, highlighting its rapid escalation as a go-to place for fashion shoppers.

Shein’s rise to prominence contradicts the sustainability agenda’s call for slower rather than fast fashion, although Shein says its AI-enabled forecasting means it is adept at creating goods to meet demand. Calls for more transparency around Shein’s supply chain will come if, as expected, it lists on the London stock market this summer in what is estimated to be the London Stock Exchange’s second-largest IPO in history with a valuation of £50bn.