British retailer Marks & Spencer has named Alex Freudmann as the new managing director of M&S Food, succeeding Stuart Machin, who was promoted to group chief executive last month.
Freudmann, who is currently managing director of Australian beer, wine and spirits retailer Dan Murphy's, will join M&S on 1 November and will sit on its executive committee.
Freudmann has also worked for Coles in Australia and British market leader Tesco.
While at Coles he worked with Machin and current M&S chairman Archie Norman.
'Experience And Passion'
Commenting on the appointment, chief executive officer, Stuart Machin, said, “Alex [Freudmann] will bring a great deal of experience and passion to our business. He has worked in food retailing for nearly two decades and in all of his roles he’s been a change-maker - bringing intellect, pace and energy. He will be a great addition to our top team as we work together to deliver the next stage of our transformation.”
Machin succeeded Steve Rowe as M&S chief executive on 25 May.
Double The Size Of M&S Food
Freudmann said he shared the executive team's belief in the long-term potential to double the size of the M&S food business.
“M&S Food is a unique and very special business with world-leading food values, and I’ve always had huge respect for the brand. I’ve watched how the business has been transformed over the past few years from afar,” he added and continued, “The team has done a great job of building a bigger, better Food business through investing in trusted value and core categories while maintaining the outstanding quality and innovation the brand is famous for.”
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