Archie Norman
Chairman
Stuart Machin
Chief Executive Officer
Alison Dolan
Chief Financial Officer
Archie Norman
Chairman
Archie Norman was appointed Chairman in September 2017. Archie has a breadth of retail experience with an extensive track record in business change and value creation. He was instrumental in transforming a number of major British businesses including Kingfisher, Asda and Energis. He has also served as Chairman of ITV, Hobbycraft and Lazard UK and was the Lead Director at the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy from 2016-2020. He was the first and only FTSE 100 Chairman to be elected a Member of Parliament, where he served for eight years.
His current external roles include: Chairman of Signal AI, Chairman of M Group, Senior Independent Director at Bridgepoint Group plc, Adviser to Coles Group and Non-Executive Chairman of the Global Counsel.
Archie is Chairman of the Nomination Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee.
Stuart Machin
Chief Executive Officer
Stuart became Chief Executive Officer in May 2022. He brought with him over 30 years of experience across the food, fashion, and home retail sectors. Before taking on the CEO role, Stuart served as Joint Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director of the Food business. He also holds a directorship at Ocado Retail Limited.
Prior to joining M&S in 2018, Stuart held senior operational and commercial roles both in the UK and internationally. His career began at Sainsbury’s and British Home Stores, followed by leadership positions at Tesco and Asda. He then spent a decade in Australia with Wesfarmers, where he served as COO of Coles supermarkets and CEO of Target department stores. Upon returning to the UK, he briefly led Steinhoff UK as CEO.
Stuart has a strong track record in retail transformation and possesses deep expertise in operations, trading, marketing, and online.
He completed the three-month residential Advanced Management Programme at Harvard in 2013 and returned in 2023 for the Harvard CEO Programme.
Alison Dolan
Chief Financial Officer
Alison joined M&S as CFO in January 2025. She brings to the Board extensive commercial and operational finance experience, particularly within digital businesses. Prior to M&S, she held a number of senior financial positions at Sky plc between 2002-2016, including Group Treasurer, Director of Finance and was the Deputy Managing Director at Sky Business, after which she moved to News UK to serve as the Chief Strategy Officer at the forefront of the business’s digital transformation from 2016 until May 2020. Most recently, Alison was CFO at Rightmove plc from 2020 until September 2024.
She is a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Pearson plc and is a member of the Audit and the Remuneration Committees. Alison is an Irish national and has a Master’s in Business Studies from University College Dublin.
Sacha Berendji
Operations Director
Alex Freudmann
Managing Director of Food
John Lyttle
Managing Director of Fashion, Home & Beauty
Sacha Berendji
Operations Director
Sacha joined M&S in 1994 through the Graduate training programme and undertook various Retail appointments across the country including General Manager of Marble Arch Store and Regional Manager for London.
In 2007 Sacha joined the Property Group as Head of Property Planning & Store Development where he was responsible for both new space development and the store modernisation programme, before being appointed Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive in 2009.
Following this Sacha joined the General Merchandise division as Director of Merchandising before taking up his current position of Retail, Operations & Property Director in November 2012.
Sacha is currently Operations Director, looking after stores and store operations, property and store development for UK and Ireland.
In February 2023, Sacha joined the Board at Adnams plc as a Non-Executive Director. He is also a member of the Remuneration and Audit Committees at Adnams.
Alex Freudmann
Managing Director of Food
Alex joined M&S in November 2022 from Australia’s pre-eminent beer, wine and spirits retailer, Dan Murphy’s, where he held the role of Managing Director. Dan Murphy's is the leading part of Endeavour Group's Retail offering and was a key contributor to Endeavour's successful performance during Alex's tenure.
Alex has a wealth of experience having worked in food retailing for nearly two decades. Alex began his career in the dotcom sector and then moved to Tesco as a leader in its Telecoms business. Alex developed his career at Tesco through the commercial functions, before moving to Australia to work at Coles, one of the country's leading supermarkets. Whilst at Coles he successfully led Health, Beauty & Baby, Packaged Grocery and Fresh Foods. As Fresh Foods Director he led an ambitious growth strategy through improving the product proposition, developing new categories, introducing new store formats, and launching a successful Food2Go business.
Mark Lemming
Managing Director of International
Nick Folland
General Counsel & Company Secretary
Sarah Findlater
People Director
Mark Lemming
Managing Director of International
Mark has 30 years’ experience in the retail industry spanning commercial, supply chain, logistics, digital and leading transformational business change. He joined international home improvement company, Kingfisher Group in 2006 and swiftly moved through the ranks at B&Q – one of the Group’s retail brands – to become the retailer’s Trading Director before becoming Category Director for the Group and ExCo member.
In 2018, Mark joined another of Kingfisher’s retail brand’s – Screwfix – as Director and was one of six board directors. Under his leadership, Mark oversaw the rapid reset of the business’s operating model in response to the pandemic.
It was in January 2022 when Mark joined M&S as Supply Chain & Logistics Director, responsible for modernising the retailer’s supply chain.
Mark was promoted to Managing Director of International and member of the Executive Committee in February 2024, beginning his new role at the start of the FY24-25 Financial Year, to drive the next phase of transformation for the International business.
Nick Folland
General Counsel & Company Secretary
Nick has extensive legal and governance experience, having been General Counsel and Company Secretary in FTSE 100 businesses since 2001; originally qualifying as a solicitor at Linklaters & Paines in 1993. He is a founder and honorary life member of the industry body, the GC100.
Nick is a Non-Executive Director, Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee and member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee of the Board of Defence Equipment and Support, an ALB of the Ministry of Defence.
Nick joined the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as Non-Executive Director in June 2024 and is Chair of its Audit Committee.
He was appointed Chair of the NERC/BAS Operations and Safety Assurance Group on 1 April 2025 and as a member of the Natural Environment Research Council. He is Chair of the Remuneration Committee of Ocado Retail Limited.
Previously Nick was Chief Executive of the Crown Prosecution Service, a role where he also led a £300 million cross-government IT change programme reforming the criminal justice system. Prior to that, he was Chief of Staff to the Chief Executive Officer of the Co-op Group, playing a pivotal role in saving the Co-op Bank and rescuing the Group from its existential crisis, then reforming the organisation's governance.
Nick joined the Co-op from B&Q’s owner, Kingfisher plc, where he was a member of the retail board and held a number of executive positions over the period 2007-13. He led the development of the sustainability strategy 'Net Positive' and was responsible for the Group's government affairs programme.
Sarah Findlater
People Director
Sarah has been People Director since March 2022. She joined Marks & Spencer in 1998 through the HR Graduate programme and undertook HR Business Partner roles in stores and regions across the country, before joining our Support Centre in 2010 as Head of HR Strategy Planning. In 2011 she became Head of Employee Relations, Engagement and Planning, and in 2014 was promoted to Head of Organisational Development where she had global accountability for Talent, Learning and Development. Sarah led the people agenda for our Clothing & Home business for three years, before moving to business partner the Chief Operating Officer in 2020, taking on accountability for our 50,000 colleagues in Retail Operations in addition to Group Talent, Reward and Wellbeing and the HR Systems Transformation Programme.
Sarah sits on the Princes Trust Retail Leadership Group and is G20 EMPOWER alliance advocate, a Private Sector Alliance for the Empowerment and Progression of Women’s Economic Representation (EMPOWER).
Archie Norman
Chairman
Stuart Machin
Chief Executive Officer
Alison Dolan
Chief Financial Officer
Archie Norman
Chairman
Archie Norman was appointed Chairman in September 2017. Archie has a breadth of retail experience with an extensive track record in business change and value creation. He was instrumental in transforming a number of major British businesses including Kingfisher, Asda and Energis. He has also served as Chairman of ITV, Hobbycraft and Lazard UK and was the Lead Director at the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy from 2016-2020. He was the first and only FTSE 100 Chairman to be elected a Member of Parliament, where he served for eight years.
His current external roles include: Chairman of Signal AI, Chairman of M Group, Senior Independent Director at Bridgepoint Group plc, Adviser to Coles Group and Non-Executive Chairman of the Global Counsel.
Archie is Chairman of the Nomination Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee.
Stuart Machin
Chief Executive Officer
Stuart became Chief Executive Officer in May 2022. He brought with him over 30 years of experience across the food, fashion, and home retail sectors. Before taking on the CEO role, Stuart served as Joint Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director of the Food business. He also holds a directorship at Ocado Retail Limited.
Prior to joining M&S in 2018, Stuart held senior operational and commercial roles both in the UK and internationally. His career began at Sainsbury’s and British Home Stores, followed by leadership positions at Tesco and Asda. He then spent a decade in Australia with Wesfarmers, where he served as COO of Coles supermarkets and CEO of Target department stores. Upon returning to the UK, he briefly led Steinhoff UK as CEO.
Stuart has a strong track record in retail transformation and possesses deep expertise in operations, trading, marketing, and online.
He completed the three-month residential Advanced Management Programme at Harvard in 2013 and returned in 2023 for the Harvard CEO Programme.
Alison Dolan
Chief Financial Officer
Alison joined M&S as CFO in January 2025. She brings to the Board extensive commercial and operational finance experience, particularly within digital businesses. Prior to M&S, she held a number of senior financial positions at Sky plc between 2002-2016, including Group Treasurer, Director of Finance and was the Deputy Managing Director at Sky Business, after which she moved to News UK to serve as the Chief Strategy Officer at the forefront of the business’s digital transformation from 2016 until May 2020. Most recently, Alison was CFO at Rightmove plc from 2020 until September 2024.
She is a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Pearson plc and is a member of the Audit and the Remuneration Committees. Alison is an Irish national and has a Master’s in Business Studies from University College Dublin.
Sacha Berendji
Operations Director
Alex Freudmann
Managing Director of Food
John Lyttle
Managing Director of Fashion, Home & Beauty
Sacha Berendji
Operations Director
Sacha joined M&S in 1994 through the Graduate training programme and undertook various Retail appointments across the country including General Manager of Marble Arch Store and Regional Manager for London.
In 2007 Sacha joined the Property Group as Head of Property Planning & Store Development where he was responsible for both new space development and the store modernisation programme, before being appointed Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive in 2009.
Following this Sacha joined the General Merchandise division as Director of Merchandising before taking up his current position of Retail, Operations & Property Director in November 2012.
Sacha is currently Operations Director, looking after stores and store operations, property and store development for UK and Ireland.
In February 2023, Sacha joined the Board at Adnams plc as a Non-Executive Director. He is also a member of the Remuneration and Audit Committees at Adnams.
Alex Freudmann
Managing Director of Food
Alex joined M&S in November 2022 from Australia’s pre-eminent beer, wine and spirits retailer, Dan Murphy’s, where he held the role of Managing Director. Dan Murphy's is the leading part of Endeavour Group's Retail offering and was a key contributor to Endeavour's successful performance during Alex's tenure.
Alex has a wealth of experience having worked in food retailing for nearly two decades. Alex began his career in the dotcom sector and then moved to Tesco as a leader in its Telecoms business. Alex developed his career at Tesco through the commercial functions, before moving to Australia to work at Coles, one of the country's leading supermarkets. Whilst at Coles he successfully led Health, Beauty & Baby, Packaged Grocery and Fresh Foods. As Fresh Foods Director he led an ambitious growth strategy through improving the product proposition, developing new categories, introducing new store formats, and launching a successful Food2Go business.
Mark Lemming
Managing Director of International
Nick Folland
General Counsel & Company Secretary
Sarah Findlater
People Director
Mark Lemming
Managing Director of International
Mark has 30 years’ experience in the retail industry spanning commercial, supply chain, logistics, digital and leading transformational business change. He joined international home improvement company, Kingfisher Group in 2006 and swiftly moved through the ranks at B&Q – one of the Group’s retail brands – to become the retailer’s Trading Director before becoming Category Director for the Group and ExCo member.
In 2018, Mark joined another of Kingfisher’s retail brand’s – Screwfix – as Director and was one of six board directors. Under his leadership, Mark oversaw the rapid reset of the business’s operating model in response to the pandemic.
It was in January 2022 when Mark joined M&S as Supply Chain & Logistics Director, responsible for modernising the retailer’s supply chain.
Mark was promoted to Managing Director of International and member of the Executive Committee in February 2024, beginning his new role at the start of the FY24-25 Financial Year, to drive the next phase of transformation for the International business.
Nick Folland
General Counsel & Company Secretary
Nick has extensive legal and governance experience, having been General Counsel and Company Secretary in FTSE 100 businesses since 2001; originally qualifying as a solicitor at Linklaters & Paines in 1993. He is a founder and honorary life member of the industry body, the GC100.
Nick is a Non-Executive Director, Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee and member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee of the Board of Defence Equipment and Support, an ALB of the Ministry of Defence.
Nick joined the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as Non-Executive Director in June 2024 and is Chair of its Audit Committee.
He was appointed Chair of the NERC/BAS Operations and Safety Assurance Group on 1 April 2025 and as a member of the Natural Environment Research Council. He is Chair of the Remuneration Committee of Ocado Retail Limited.
Previously Nick was Chief Executive of the Crown Prosecution Service, a role where he also led a £300 million cross-government IT change programme reforming the criminal justice system. Prior to that, he was Chief of Staff to the Chief Executive Officer of the Co-op Group, playing a pivotal role in saving the Co-op Bank and rescuing the Group from its existential crisis, then reforming the organisation's governance.
Nick joined the Co-op from B&Q’s owner, Kingfisher plc, where he was a member of the retail board and held a number of executive positions over the period 2007-13. He led the development of the sustainability strategy 'Net Positive' and was responsible for the Group's government affairs programme.
Sarah Findlater
People Director
Sarah has been People Director since March 2022. She joined Marks & Spencer in 1998 through the HR Graduate programme and undertook HR Business Partner roles in stores and regions across the country, before joining our Support Centre in 2010 as Head of HR Strategy Planning. In 2011 she became Head of Employee Relations, Engagement and Planning, and in 2014 was promoted to Head of Organisational Development where she had global accountability for Talent, Learning and Development. Sarah led the people agenda for our Clothing & Home business for three years, before moving to business partner the Chief Operating Officer in 2020, taking on accountability for our 50,000 colleagues in Retail Operations in addition to Group Talent, Reward and Wellbeing and the HR Systems Transformation Programme.
Sarah sits on the Princes Trust Retail Leadership Group and is G20 EMPOWER alliance advocate, a Private Sector Alliance for the Empowerment and Progression of Women’s Economic Representation (EMPOWER).
Archie Norman
Chairman
Stuart Machin
Chief Executive Officer
Alison Dolan
Chief Financial Officer
Archie Norman
Chairman
Archie Norman was appointed Chairman in September 2017. Archie has a breadth of retail experience with an extensive track record in business change and value creation. He was instrumental in transforming a number of major British businesses including Kingfisher, Asda and Energis. He has also served as Chairman of ITV, Hobbycraft and Lazard UK and was the Lead Director at the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy from 2016-2020. He was the first and only FTSE 100 Chairman to be elected a Member of Parliament, where he served for eight years.
His current external roles include: Chairman of Signal AI, Chairman of M Group, Senior Independent Director at Bridgepoint Group plc, Adviser to Coles Group and Non-Executive Chairman of the Global Counsel.
Archie is Chairman of the Nomination Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee.
Stuart Machin
Chief Executive Officer
Stuart became Chief Executive Officer in May 2022. He brought with him over 30 years of experience across the food, fashion, and home retail sectors. Before taking on the CEO role, Stuart served as Joint Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director of the Food business. He also holds a directorship at Ocado Retail Limited.
Prior to joining M&S in 2018, Stuart held senior operational and commercial roles both in the UK and internationally. His career began at Sainsbury’s and British Home Stores, followed by leadership positions at Tesco and Asda. He then spent a decade in Australia with Wesfarmers, where he served as COO of Coles supermarkets and CEO of Target department stores. Upon returning to the UK, he briefly led Steinhoff UK as CEO.
Stuart has a strong track record in retail transformation and possesses deep expertise in operations, trading, marketing, and online.
He completed the three-month residential Advanced Management Programme at Harvard in 2013 and returned in 2023 for the Harvard CEO Programme.
Alison Dolan
Chief Financial Officer
Alison joined M&S as CFO in January 2025. She brings to the Board extensive commercial and operational finance experience, particularly within digital businesses. Prior to M&S, she held a number of senior financial positions at Sky plc between 2002-2016, including Group Treasurer, Director of Finance and was the Deputy Managing Director at Sky Business, after which she moved to News UK to serve as the Chief Strategy Officer at the forefront of the business’s digital transformation from 2016 until May 2020. Most recently, Alison was CFO at Rightmove plc from 2020 until September 2024.
She is a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Pearson plc and is a member of the Audit and the Remuneration Committees. Alison is an Irish national and has a Master’s in Business Studies from University College Dublin.
Nick Folland
General Counsel & Company Secretary
Cheryl Potter
Non-Executive Director
Ronan Dunne
Non-Executive Director
Nick Folland
General Counsel & Company Secretary
Nick has extensive legal and governance experience, having been General Counsel and Company Secretary in FTSE 100 businesses since 2001; originally qualifying as a solicitor at Linklaters & Paines in 1993. He is a founder and honorary life member of the industry body, the GC100.
Nick is a Non-Executive Director, Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee and member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee of the Board of Defence Equipment and Support, an ALB of the Ministry of Defence.
Nick joined the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as Non-Executive Director in June 2024 and is Chair of its Audit Committee.
He was appointed Chair of the NERC/BAS Operations and Safety Assurance Group on 1 April 2025 and as a member of the Natural Environment Research Council. He is Chair of the Remuneration Committee of Ocado Retail Limited.
Previously Nick was Chief Executive of the Crown Prosecution Service, a role where he also led a £300 million cross-government IT change programme reforming the criminal justice system. Prior to that, he was Chief of Staff to the Chief Executive Officer of the Co-op Group, playing a pivotal role in saving the Co-op Bank and rescuing the Group from its existential crisis, then reforming the organisation's governance.
Nick joined the Co-op from B&Q’s owner, Kingfisher plc, where he was a member of the retail board and held a number of executive positions over the period 2007-13. He led the development of the sustainability strategy 'Net Positive' and was responsible for the Group's government affairs programme.
Cheryl Potter
Non-Executive Director
Cheryl joined the M&S Board on 1 March 2023. As the former head of the global consumer team at private equity firm, Permira, Cheryl brings a strong shareholder value focus to the Board, as well as a wealth of leadership experience.
During Cheryl’s 20-year career at Permira she built a highly successful track record as an investor and steward of portfolio companies, working with management teams to build better businesses. Cheryl also previously Chaired the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA).
As well as leading the global consumer practice, she has previously held Non-Executive Director positions on the boards of scale retail and consumer facing brands, including Dr Martens, Allegro, Homebase and Birds Eye. Cheryl currently serves as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of German online clothing retail company, Best Secret, and has done since April 2017.
Cheryl has also been a passionate advocate for women in leadership, as both a founding Patron of The Prince’s Trust Women Supporting Women scheme and as the recent Chair of Level 20, a not-for-profit organisation focused on getting more women into senior investing roles in the Private Equity industry.
Cheryl is a member of the Nomination and ESG Committees.
Ronan Dunne
Non-Executive Director
Ronan joined the Board on 1 August 2022. He is a very strong commercial leader with enormous international experience in the digital telecoms industry and also has great financial expertise having held Chief Financial Officer roles previously. He has led businesses through technological and people transformations both as CEO of Verizon Consumer Group and CEO of Telefónica UK (O2).
Ronan is currently Non-Executive Chairman of Six Nations Rugby as well as a Trustee of the John King Brain Tumour Foundation.
Ronan is a member of the Nomination and Audit & Risk Committees.
Evelyn Bourke
Non-Executive Director
Fiona Dawson, CBE
Senior Independent Director
Sapna Sood
Non-Executive Director
Evelyn Bourke
Non-Executive Director
Evelyn was appointed in February 2021. She retired from her role as CEO of Bupa Group at the end of December 2020. Evelyn led transformative change during her near 5-year tenure as CEO of Bupa, putting the customer at the heart of the organisation, investing in people and technology and strengthening the business. She has extensive experience in financial services having spent three and a half years as Bupa's CFO and in leadership roles at Standard Life and Friends Provident. Evelyn has been a non-executive director of Admiral plc since 30 April 2021 where she is a member of their Audit Committee. She joined the board of AJ Bell plc on 1 July 2021 and is the Senior Independent Director and a member of their Audit Committee. In July 2024 she became Chair of UK board of GenesisCare and a Non-Executive Director of GenesisCare Cayman. Evelyn was previously a non-executive director of Bank of Ireland.
Evelyn is Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee and is a member of the Nomination Committee.
Fiona Dawson, CBE
Senior Independent Director
Fiona joined the M&S Board on 25 May 2021. She is also a Non-Executive Director of Reckitt where she is Chair of the Remuneration Committee, Kerry Group plc where she chairs the Sustainability Committee and is a member of the Audit and Remuneration Committees, and sits on the Board of LEGO. Fiona was previously Global President Food, Drinks and Multisales at Mars, Inc. sitting on the Global Leadership Team. Fiona rose from the Graduate Trainee scheme on to roles including President of Global Retail and Mars Chocolate UK and European Marketing Vice President where she made an enduring impact in her three decades at the business.
In May 2021, Fiona was awarded a CBE for services to women and the economy. She is President of the Chartered Management Institute and a Trustee with the Social Mobility Foundation. She was previously Chair of the Women’s Business Council, President of the Institute of Grocery Distribution and Vice President of the Food and Drink Federation.
Fiona is Chair of the Remuneration Committee and a member of the Nomination Committee. Fiona was appointed as Senior Independent Director in September 2024.
Sapna Sood
Non-Executive Director
Sapna was appointed in June 2020. Sapna joined The Adecco Group in June 2021 and as of May 2023, has been appointed as President, Adecco APAC. She was also a senior executive at Compass Group, as the Group Director for International Clients and Market Development business until 2021 and a Non-Executive Director at Kering from 2016 to 2020. In her previous career she held leading operational roles in the building materials and industrial gas sectors in Europe and Asia-Pacific, latterly as CEO and President of LafargeHolcim in the Philippines. Sapna has in-depth knowledge of running complex supply chains, including in food and clothing, as well as experience of leading large transformation programmes. She has driven a step-change in diversity in all of her teams and is passionate about sustainability; having chaired Kering's Sustainability Committee. Sapna is also an Advisory Board member of Imperial College Business School.
Sapna is a member of the Nomination Committee and ESG Committee.