Experience Innovators

Tom Athron
Chief executive, Fortnum & Mason

Fortnum & Mason chief executive Tom Athron described 2023 as a year defined by “a resurgence in the appeal of shopping in real life”, and the uniqueness of his retail department store business and its position as a destination shop has helped drive sales.

Fortnum & Mason reported a 17% increase in sales year on year in the all-important peak five-week Christmas period, when more than 6 million customers were served across its physical and digital channels. Half of these shoppers visited its physical stores – 30% ahead of last year – and that is in part down to Athron’s strategy to focus on the shopper experience.

The new Food and Drinks Studio and Supper Clubs at the London Piccadilly flagship store have proven to be extremely popular, according to Athron, who commended the dancing Christmas puddings in the shop’s atrium as a hit with visitors and social media users.

Athron talks of the importance of bringing “moments of joy” to people’s lives. With growing demand for its goods, the second half of 2024 will see the retailer consolidate its operations to a single larger Northants distribution centre to ensure it can continue delivering this promise to more consumers.

Asif Aziz
Retail director, EE/BT Group

EE/BT Group retail director Asif Aziz makes his debut appearance in the Retail 100 hot on the heels of his company winning Best New Store at the Retail Week Awards 2024.

Aziz – who also appears on Retail Week’s Tech List for his influence over digital strategy – is providing customer experience inspiration for the wider industry as EE continues to find creative ways to merge the physical and digital elements of shopping.

With EE announcing a £6m investment in stores at the start of 2024, the company’s commitment to physical retailing is clear to see. The new formats, which provide ‘experience zones’ based on whether the consumer wants to learn, work, feel at home or play, are all part of what Aziz views as the reinvention of shops to provide much more than a place for transactions.

EE’s first flagship studio store format in Westfield White City in June 2023 was followed up with similar experience stores in Manchester, Bluewater and Cardiff in 2023, and most recently, in Gateshead in February. There are no signs of this strategy slowing down as EE planned to open more than 10 new stores between April 2024 and March 2025.

Graham Bell
Chief executive,B&Q 

In an increasingly competitive market – and one impacted by cautious consumer spending on big-ticket items – B&Q chief executive Graham Bell is overseeing the roll-out of compelling experiences to bring in new shoppers.

B&Q in the UK’s 4.4% sales rise and market share gains in the last financial year, supported by initiatives such as the introduction of smaller B&Q Local shops, standout as its parent Kingfisher Group reported a 1.8% dip in revenue to £12.9bn. 

Bell has green lighted an online marketplace roll-out in recent years that is putting the afterburners on B&Q’s ecommerce growth. B&Q’s share of Kingfisher group sales from ecommerce hit 17.4%, which is more than double where the business was a few years ago – and the decision to introduce more ranges through a marketplace is pivotal.

It is clearly the type of experience new DIY consumers are seeking from online, with 80% of the marketplace shoppers on B&Q’s website having never ordered there before. This strategy justifies Bell and his team’s decision to focus attention on this part of the business post pandemic.

Sarah Boyd
UK managing director, Sephora 

Sarah Boyd is at the helm of Sephora in the UK as it evolves from disruptor to experience innovator.

Having returned to the UK after a 17-year absence with an online launch in October 2022 and the opening of a Westfield London Shepherd's Bush flagship in March 2023, Sephora is now helping show the art of the possible to the wider beauty sector.

Boyd has led Sephora as it has been recognised by CACI and Retail Week as the joint fastest growing beauty brand in the UK – alongside Rituals – during 2023, supported by its carefully curated offering and a second store in the UK at Westfield Stratford.

Sephora chief executive Guillaume Motte told this year’s World Retail Congress that around 50% of Sephora’s sales are exclusive products and the retailer frequently teams up with partner brands, often start-ups, to ensure an innovative offering.

Expect to see more of that and queues outside the doors on launch days, as Boyd opens Sephora stores in Manchester, Newcastle's Eldon Square and Gateshead's Metrocentre this year as part of her plans to cover the major shopping centres of the UK.

Roisin Currie
Chief executive, Greggs

Now two years into the role as Greggs chief executive, Roisin Currie is carving a name for herself as one of retail’s experience innovators.

The food-to-go retailer opened 220 new stores in 2023, growing its store estate to a total of 2,473 as of last December.

But it is not just volume of locations, it is the evolution of the type of stores Greggs runs and its CX offer that is helping the business thrive. They include drive-through stores, the launch of its first ever cafe in Sainsbury’s last October and its ‘fine dining’ bistro in Fenwick’s Newcastle flagship last November.

Greggs posted like-for-like growth of 7.4% in the first 19 weeks of 2024 when there was “continued good progress across all channels”. It followed strong trading in its full-year results. Stores have been a particular focus for Greggs under Currie with rollouts such as its evening trade initiative, which sees 1,200 of its venues serve hot food till 7pm or later – with this contributing 8.7% of company-managed shop sales in the second half of the year. The evening trade extension is all part of Currie’s aim to make Greggs more accessible to customers, alongside offering greater availability through digital channels.

Currie has bold ambitions to double sales by 2026 based on a five-year growth plan and to have significantly more than 3,000 shops in the UK. She has said the business is “on track” to deliver that, aided by her continual tweaks to the proposition that allow it to make the most of new opportunities.

James Daunt
Chief executive, Waterstones,
Barnes & Noble

James Daunt is a vocal advocate for bricks-and-mortar retailing and has long argued that successful bookselling requires tangible experiences supported by inspiring stores and engaged shop staff. He opened six new stores in 2023 on top of the 13 opened in 2022.

Waterstones’ results following the global pandemic, when sales and profit plunged as its shops were shuttered in lockdowns, have bounced back considerably, suggesting there is real demand for the experiences Daunt talks up.

Waterstones’ sales in the 52 weeks to April 2023 jumped to £452.4m – from £399.9m in 2022 – and the pre-tax profit drop from £53.4m to £11.2m during that period was attributed largely to costs of a technical issue when moving to a new warehouse system in 2022.

Daunt told The Financial Times in December a stock exchange listing “would be a very sensible place” for the bookselling group, which could be a focus for private equity owners Elliott in 2024.

Ben Francis
Founder and chief executive, Gymshark 

In August 2024 it will be three years since founder Ben Francis returned to the role of Gymshark chief executive after spending time gaining corporate leadership knowhow under the wing of experienced boss Steve Hewitt, who flew the Gymshark nest in 2023.

An obsession with building customer relationships was central to Francis successfully building a £1bn-plus valued online fitness brand. That focus looks set to be central to the organisation’s next stage of growth, which ramps up in 2024.

A second permanent experiential store to add to the London Regent Street flagship has opened at London’s Westfield Stratford City and the brand expanded into wholesale through a partnership with Selfridges in March. That tie-up also marked the launch of its first premium range, which represents unchartered waters for Francis and his team.

Gymshark explores these new horizons in good financial shape – with sales of £556.2m in the year ending July 2023 up 15% from the previous 12-month period. During the same period, EBITDA was £40.4m, compared with the £37.6m reported one year before.

Óscar García Maceiras
Chief executive, Inditex 

Óscar García Maceiras may not have had any retail leadership experience when he joined Inditex as general counsel and secretary of the board in 2021, but since taking the chief executive role a year later he has spent the past two years continuing to grow the fashion giant’s standing.

Inditex posted pre-tax profit up 28.2% to €6.9bn (£5.89bn) last year, when sales advanced 10.4% to €35.9bn (£30.66bn). The Zara owner said it was “showing very satisfactory development both in stores and online”.

With sales “positive in all geographical areas and in all concepts” during that time, it is difficult to find fault with García Maceiras’ tenure to date, which has continued chair Marta Ortega’s strategy to introduce more tech-enabled shopping and operate with fewer but larger stores.

A case in point was the opening of its largest Zara Scotland store, in November 2023, at Glasgow Fort shopping centre. Like many of its new shops over the past year, the 37,000 sq ft branch was an expansion of an existing Zara and features tech innovations such as pay-and-go payments by scanning and automated returns.

Shopping centre owners know Zara’s presence helps attract other big names to their properties, further underlining García Maceiras’s status as an experience innovator.

Alex Gourlay
Executive chair, Holland & Barrett 

Holland & Barrett named former Walgreens Boots Alliance co-chief operating officer Alex Gourlay as executive chair in January 2023, and the ex-Boots health and beauty boss has made an impact.

Speaking in March, Gourlay described a change in company structure and personnel at Holland & Barrett – involving the launch of a wellness solutions and transformation division and a dedicated international arm – as “sharpening our operating model in this way will help us go faster, effectively compete and accelerate growth, ultimately improving our customers’ experiences”.

Former chief operating officer Anthony Houghton is now leading the UK and Ireland business, while Alex Dower in place as international chief executive, and Tamara Rajah is the boss of the wellness solutions and transformation division.

Gourlay’s focus on experience is evidenced by Holland & Barrett building its food ranges and introducing additional categories, aided by new in-store concessions. Showing it is on the right track, the retailer picked up the 2024 Retail Week Customer Experience Gamechanger Award in March for the store app it uses to help customers achieve their personal health and wellness goals.

Peter Jelkeby
UK and Ireland CEO and chief sustainability officer, Ikea 

In-store visits to Ikea UK stores were up by 2.2% (1 million) year on year in the 12 months to August 2023, suggesting country manager Peter Jelkeby’s continued tweaks to the physical shopping experience over the last few years are paying off. 

The financials back up that idea. The home and furniture giant increased turnover by 11.9% to £2.46bn during the period, and operating profit reached 4.5% of total turnover versus 2.3% the year prior. As a prominent voice on sustainability, Jelkeby has also overseen the introduction of several circular concepts in recent years, including furniture buyback and resell at its stores, which have added new ways for customers to experience the Ikea brand. 

During the 12 months, click-and-collect orders soared 48%, while online sales and remote sales, such as those made via its partnership with Tesco, climbed 19% and 24% respectively. These figures validate Jelkeby’s long-term transformation target of reducing the size of Ikea stores, enhancing online order pick-up points in shops and opening premises closer to where people live in locations such as Hammersmith, west London, and Stockport, Greater Manchester. 

Oxford Street is a major store opening set for 2025, as Jelkeby experiments further with the shopping experience in what will be his first store in such a global flagship retail destination. Early indications are the store will act as more of a showroom, with 6,000 products set to be promoted but only 3,000 available to take home by customers on the day. 

Andrew Keith
Chief executive, Selfridges UK 

Andrew Keith is a year into his role as chief executive of Selfridges UK after being promoted from managing director in June 2023.

The change of job title reflects wider senior appointments at the department store group, with André Maeder succeeding Stefano Della Valle as group boss in October 2023. It comes at a time where there has been uncertainty over Selfridges’ ownership structure with Thai retailer Central Group taking control in November following problems with its partner Signa.

Despite this, latest financial results highlight positive momentum – in the year to January 28, 2023, Selfridges said revenue rose by 29% to £843.7m, while losses before tax narrowed to £37.9m versus £121.5m one year before.

According to the retailer, the improved financial performance was “driven by strong footfall and sales through the company’s physical stores, particularly Oxford Street in London and Exchange Square in Manchester”.

To that end, Keith and his team are focusing on developing the store experience further via the launch of new partnerships with fashion players such as Gymshark and Rixo, and clothing repair company SOJO.

Pop-ups in store are a favoured strategy to keep the proposition fresh. While in July 2023, Keith also oversaw the launch of Selfridges’ ‘Unlocked’ membership scheme aimed at increasing customer loyalty.

Andy Lightfoot
Chief executive, Space NK

New to the Retail 100 is Space NK chief executive Andy Lightfoot. Amazon alumni and an ex-Arcadia head of digital, Lightfoot is now a vocal advocate of the power of the store experience.

He joined Space NK in 2016 as group digital director, but was promoted to chief executive in June 2019 – and in the five years since then the market has become increasingly competitive.

Despite growing competition, Space NK’s success has continued, resulting in speculation in April that owner Manzanita Capital is plotting a £400m sale of the business.

Revenue for the year to March 25, 2023 rose by 23.1% to £146.6m, with the retailer citing store like-for-like sales – which climbed 28% – as key to growth. Large-format new openings and upsized stores in locations such as Westfield London in January 2023 – its biggest store to date – as well as the opening of its first shops in Wales and Liverpool in May and April 2023, are contributing to Space NK’s continuing elevation.

Its Westfield store, for instance, features two treatment rooms that offer facials, a makeup play table for customers to experiment with products and pods run by store experts for shoppers to find out more about a brand. There is also an area for shoppers to refill products and recycle their used packaging.

Peter Macnab
Chief executive,
AS Watson UK 

Overseeing Superdrug and Savers as chief executive of AS Watson UK has provided an eventful 12 months for Peter Macnab. 

Exclusive research published by CACI and Retail Week in April showed Savers as the fifth fastest-growing health and beauty retailer in the UK in 2023 by consumer spend, while Superdrug was just three places behind.  

With The Perfume Shop also pushing the envelope with new packaging tech in its warehouse to speed up online orders while freezing prices on bestselling fragrances throughout 2023 and continuing to do so in 2024/25, Macnab’s stable of brands is in rude health. 

Superdrug is the biggest retailer under Macnab’s watch. Speaking in January after a 9.2% year-on-year increase in sales for the crucial December period, he hailed the retailer’s 10% growth of own-brand sales, rising share of the UK cosmetics market and development of its in-store beauty studios as key factors in the business’ success.  

Macnab’s strategy for increasing store sizes and developing the Superdrug digital proposition is also paying off. App sales increased 74% year on year in the last three months of 2023, with the retailer’s Health & Beautycard membership reaching 18.1 million off the back of launching a VIP rewards scheme. 

Paul Marchant
Chief executive, Primark 

Winner of International Retailer of the Year at the 2024 Retail Week Awards, Primark – led by chief executive Paul Marchant – continues to plot its route to growth with ambitious plans for expansion in Europe and North America.

Primark launched eight stores in the US alone in 2023 and announced plans for five shops in Italy – four of which will arrive by the close of 2024. Marchant said in March that key to success in global growth is about “trusting our teams on the ground who are more than capable and know their customers better than anyone”.

In its interim results for the 24 weeks to March 2, 2024, Primark’s adjusted operating profit jumped 46% to £508m, with margin recovery up to 11.3% while revenues for the period were up 7.5% to £4.5bn. This was driven by the popularity of its value proposition, but also strategic incremental price increases introduced by Marchant and the team that failed to put shoppers off.

Understanding the importance of digital yet knowing it is difficult to make profitable means Marchant has rolled out click and collect as a digital sales channel and in its latest results owner ABF announced there would be a further click-and-collect roll-out across the UK. In terms of outlook, Marchant will be leveraging what ABF defines as Primark’s core benefits: “The strength of our value proposition, our product relevance and category stretch.”

John Mewett
Chief executive, Screwfix

Under John Mewett’s leadership, Screwfix became a £2.54bn revenue business in the 2023/24 financial year – meaning the Kingfisher-owned tools retailer has doubled sales during his six-year tenure.

Screwfix provides a compelling growth story within the wider Kingfisher group.

Mewett’s thirst for building the Screwfix footprint continues, closing the financial year with 50 more stores compared to 2023 to take its total to 922. New acquisition Connect Distribution Services Limited was renamed Screwfix Spares and is performing as expected, showing Mewett’s eye for a deal.

Much of the same is in the pipeline for the 12 months ahead, with Screwfix planning to open up to 40 new stores in the UK and Ireland and 15 in France this financial year, helping Mewett stay on track to reach a medium-term goal of more than 1,000 stores.

Screwfix describes its ‘ultra-convenience’ as a key customer experience differentiator, and a delivery partnership secured with Deliveroo in November 2023 shows Mewett will continue to find ways to improve how his retailer serves customers.

Taku Morikawa
Chief executive,
Uniqlo Europe 

Taku Morikawa is presiding over one of Fast Retailing’s international divisions that is growing the fastest, according to the Uniqlo parent company.

Alongside its North American arm, Uniqlo in Europe is a key factor behind overall group operating profit jumping 16.7% to ¥257bn (£1.34bn) in the six months to February 29, 2024, off the back of a 9% year-on-year hike in sales to ¥1.59trn (£8.3bn).

These faster-growing international businesses are experiencing “significantly higher revenue and profit” thanks to growing customer bases and “growing customer affinity” towards Uniqlo’s LifeWear collection, which Morikawa is helping deliver through some unique moves in physical retail.

Evidence of an innovative new approach to store formats comes in Uniqlo hosting its first in-store tearoom in the Covent Garden shop bespoke T-shirt making service and a tie-up with Transport for London on branded products.

Bringing the RE. UNIQLO Studio to its Regent Street flagship store in London and Battersea Power Station space to give customers more opportunities to repair, recycle and find ways of reusing their clothing, is also a notable change of approach from Morikawa and his team to combine CX with sustainable shopping.

Michael Murray
Chief executive, Frasers Group 

Frasers Group chief executive Michael Murray continues to lead the retailer’s ‘elevation strategy’, underpinned by continual improvements and investments in three key pillars – sport, premium and luxury – aimed at driving sales.

Recent performance suggests the ongoing focus on enhancing the customer proposition is working. The Sports Direct, Flannels and Game UK owner reported an 8% rise in profit before tax to £310.2m in the 26 weeks to October 29, 2023. Group revenue increased 4.4% to £2.7bn, with international retail leaping by 13.2% to £645.8m and premium lifestyle also driving the growth with a 3.1% jump in sales to £550.1m during the period.

Murray wants Sports Direct to become the number one sports retailer in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the retailer’s current performance suggests his ambitions are realistic.

He intends this target to be supported by mergers and acquisitions – a consistent feature of Murray’s tenure – with Dutch retailer Twin Sport the latest business to be acquired by fast-growing Frasers in April 2024.

Heidi O'Neill
President, consumer and marketplace, Nike 

The global Nike business is embarking on cost-cutting exercises and reducing headcount at HQ off the back of softer sales last year, and Heidi O’Neill is at the forefront of the business’ efforts to refresh and move forward in 2024. 

O’Neill joined Nike in 1998, has held multiple senior roles and has been responsible for helping the company land several new brand concepts in flagship locations around the world.  

One of those concepts new to the UK was the Nike Rise format, which focuses on providing consumers with a localised experience supported by events for members including run clubs and in-store workouts. The third UK Nike store adopting this concept will arrive at Trinity Leeds by the end of 2024, following in the footsteps of Rise stores in London and Birmingham. 

Nike announced the return of Nicole Hubbard Graham as chief marketing officer in November 2023, replacing DJ van Hameren, who is set to retire after 31 years with the business. This, combined with the arrival of a new chief innovation officer and CTO, suggests O’Neill and her team are looking to freshen up the Nike experience even more in the 12 months ahead. 

Demetra Pinsent
Chief executive, Charlotte Tilbury Beauty 

Demetria Pinsent, chief executive of Charlotte Tilbury Beauty, joins the Retail 100 for the first time in 2024, replacing the brand’s eponymous founder in the list from last year.

Pinsent’s appearance reflects her role as the mastermind and strategic lead of a brand that keeps going from strength to strength – and which parent company Puig credits for driving the positive sales momentum in makeup and skin categories for the group.

The importance of Charlotte Tilbury to the portfolio – as well as the innovative experience-led retailing online and in store shaped by Pinsent – has intensified in 2024, as Puig looks to float on the Spanish stock exchanges.

Pinsent and her team have continued to up the ante in customer experience. They are launching further ‘magic boxes’ – surprise curations of products that sell out quickly every time they go to market – and have been opening innovative pop-up shops and AI-enabled features.

The business’ mobile app, which launched in June last year, delivers personalised beauty solutions, educational and inspirational resources, and incentives for new and existing customers.

The app offers several AI-driven tools to enhance and streamline online shopping. One feature, for instance, enables customers to answer three questions and upload a selfie to make use of the brand’s AI-powered Pro Skin Analysis tool, which then offers a personalised skincare routine and expert advice in under 60 seconds.

Michael Ward
Managing director, Harrods 

Harrods’ return to pre-pandemic trading norms in 2022/23 will be a welcome for managing director Michael Ward. The boss of the luxury department store has placed concerted emphasis on retail experience innovation, which will continue across 2024 as Harrods celebrates 175 years of operation.

A year-long anniversary celebration is under way. The iconic store in Knightsbridge, London, is hosting a presentation on its facade, featuring flag decorations, commemorative window displays and a light show, along with a range of events to mark the special occasion.

Harrods' world-famous reputation will be on show through to December, enhancing what is an experiential shopping destination even in non-celebratory times.

Contributing to the experience will be creative partnerships and innovative in-store concepts that underline the brand’s heritage. In December 2023, for instance, Ward oversaw the launch of two new rooms – Evening & Occasion and Holiday & Swim – complete with unique fitting rooms, more than 38 brands and limited-edition products to enhance its womenswear department.

Underlining his experience innovator credentials, Ward says the retailer “is in the business of celebrating the best of luxury, and it felt fitting to take a moment to celebrate our own momentous anniversary”.

Peter Wood
Chief executive, AllSaints 

AllSaints boss Peter Wood clocks up his second consecutive year in the Retail 100, building on the retailer’s best sales and profit achieved in the 12 months to January 28, 2023.

His approach to business is markedly different; he told Retail Week last year that it’s far more about “feelings” and making his “audience feel good” than it is of thinking about strategy and “retail jargon” such as “omnichannel”.

Wood is on a mission to open the brand up to new audiences, evidenced by new-format stores that are designed to be “lighter” and “more feminine”, albeit still maintaining the industrial brand DNA that has made the company what it is.

The new design has so far been rolled out in nine locations globally, including Cardiff, Dubai, New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Shanghai and in three stores in Taiwan, as well as to its concession space in Selfridges. A partnership with the Royal Ballet was also forged in November 2023, as the retailer looked to continue the theme of tapping into different but aligned target markets.

As well as developing a refreshed look to widen its appeal, Wood and AllSaints are eyeing international expansion. The company already has a presence in Amsterdam, France, Germany and Spain, but it has its sights on further European destinations, while a Tokyo opening in 2023 has put the wheels in motion for more shop space in Asia, potentially including India.