Salesforce
Retail Leader
of the Year
STUART MACHIN
CEO, Marks & Spencer
When Marks & Spencer chief executive Stuart Machin is being interviewed, it’s day 1,008 in the role.
He knows instantly, because when he started, he wanted to ensure he was making a difference daily, so he uses a ‘day at a glance’ system to hold himself to that.
It’s typical of the driven Machin, one of the retail leaders who has risen from a Saturday job to running one of the country’s most revered businesses.
Machin’s success was recognised when he was named Salesforce Leader of the Year at this year’s Retail Week Awards. M&S’ strong performance under Machin showed his impact on the business, where there have been improvements in every aspect – from food to clothing – and it has left many rivals in its tracks.
In its last full year, M&S posted profit before tax and adjusted items up 17.2%. It reported food volume and consecutive monthly value market share growth for four years running.
The retailer followed that up with a strong Christmas performance when “sales records were broken across the business”, helped by innovation in food – 500 new lines were launched – and a clothing performance that beat a tough overall market.
While Machin would probably be the first to point out that there is still much to do, retailers have been impressed by the progress made. M&S is once again the name many in the industry turn to as among the best in class.
“The job is you're at the front, leading the team. You have to be present. You have to be clear on your views. You have to be there to answer the challenging questions”
Evolution and resilience
When it comes to a host of retail aspects, Machin has pretty much been there and done that – whether working on the checkout or devising and executing a growth strategy.
His daily difference calendar shows both the attention to detail and the big-picture ambition that have helped him get where he is today. It also fosters a little healthy paranoia about not getting complacent.
The system helps him maintain focus on key decisions that need to be made and ensure the intended changes happen in a timely manner – whether it's evolution of the leadership team, supply chain initiatives or reshaping the store estate.
Although a daily check-in, Machin's approach is more about keeping front of mind the decisions that will matter within a slightly longer timeframe – for instance, 100 days.
He says: “It forces me to make sure that we're not just ‘doing stuff’ but that we're making decisions to drive action and transform M&S.
“I'm not talking many – five, six or seven that I want us to make and hold myself accountable for. I go back and say well, in those 100 days, did I do it? Normally I don't do all of them, but probably six out of seven. I end up doing the majority because I get so paranoid.”
Eight days earlier, on his 1,000th day, Machin asked a colleague whether “we’d done enough”. Machin recalls: “He said, you'll always say no. It's a bit of fun but it’s a way of me holding myself to account.”
A rewarding experience
Machin, who joined Marks & Spencer in 2018 to run the food business and became chief executive in 2022, has worked in almost every department imaginable over his career – from food safety to buying, to supply chain and marketing – and started off pushing trolleys as a Saturday job at SavaCentre, owned jointly by Sainsbury’s and BHS in Hempstead Valley, Kent.
That experience, mundane as many might think it was, proved transformational for Machin and typifies the importance to him of a job well done and opening prospects.
“I always started early and I'd always finish late. It was my thing – no trolleys had to be left in the car park”
He remembers: “When you're a kid and you've got the opportunity to earn money for yourself, there's nothing like it.
“Looking back, it was something that gave me purpose. I took doing our trolleys very seriously. I always started early and I'd always finish late. It was my thing – no trolleys had to be left in the car park. If it was raining, you had to get them wiped down quickly. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
He soon moved to the checkout, then to running the cash office, and on to senior roles at retailers including Asda and Tesco, as well as Wesfarmers-owned Coles and Target in Australia, before taking the food role at M&S.
There, he set about amping up the proposition, turning food halls into more engaging and exciting places that showed off the product, improving value for money and enabling customers to do a much bigger shop.
“I never really thought about becoming chief executive because we were too busy doing the job we had. But I do remember thinking, am I good enough to do it?”
Straight to Stuart
To an extent, his approach to transforming the food division laid the ground for that as group chief executive. It was about clarity of strategy, a clear plan, clarity of communication and – that word again – accountability across the team.
Machin says whether it’s fellow executive team members or staff in stores or distribution centres through the 'Straight to Stuart' suggestion scheme, everyone has their part to play in the ongoing transformation at Marks & Spencer.
Although he’s famously hands-on, he wants to hear others’ views and be challenged – just as he will challenge others.
“Leadership is about taking accountability. It's about the unvarnished truth”
When talking about his leadership style he says: “Leadership is about taking accountability. It's about the unvarnished truth. It's about making sure that you try to do the right thing. It's very easy to duck away from confrontation or challenging issues but that's not the job.
“The job is you're at the front, leading the team. You have to be present. You have to be clear on your views. You have to be there to answer the challenging questions. You've got to put your head above the parapet and you want people to come and talk to you.”
A leader in the making
Despite his breadth and depth of experience, and success at M&S Food, the idea that he would become chief executive was not a given.
Machin says: “I never really thought about becoming chief executive because we were too busy doing the job we had. But I do remember thinking, am I good enough to do it?
“If I'm honest, there's probably an element of self-doubt in every leader. If there isn't, then there probably should be. I've always had an element of ‘am I good enough? Am I working hard enough? Are we doing the right things?’ What is incredibly important is to have people around you who can talk honestly, who can help you.”
Machin has had many of those – Connie Jones at SavaCentre who gave him a job; checkout manager Zena Honey who said: “You’re really good on trolleys, I want you on checkout”; and former Sainsbury’s manager John Hartnett.
Of the latter, Machin, remembers: “He would say: 'You're better than me'. I’d say don't be ridiculous. He'd say: 'You are, and you're going to outgrow me.' That's a brave thing to do. I've had people who have been wise, humble, hardworking people who care, and I would not be here if it wasn't for them,”
Crucial too has been Archie Norman, chair of M&S and a legend in UK retail for his revival of Asda. He has been part of Machin’s career for a long time, including at Wesfarmers.
Machin says: “Archie has given me space. He's given me counsel, good guidance when I need it, and is always there when I've got a question or when I need to go to somebody – and he’s someone who can also put me on track and tell me if he thinks I haven't got it quite right.”
“When there are things that really impact the business, I think I need to explain those to people outside. It’s a responsibility to try to help them understand”
A voice for retail
Machin’s Leader of the Year Award also reflects his role as an industry voice who has spoken out on issues affecting every company, such as the growing burden of costs and retail’s importance as an employer. He has contributed various editorial columns in leading newspapers on such issues.
He says: “When there are things that really impact the business, I think I need to explain those to people outside. If you've got governments and they're going to put some type of regulation in and you don't feel they understand, it’s a responsibility to try and help them understand.”
Machin, who regards retail as “the real economy”, adds: “We employ 3 million-plus people. We give many people their first chance to work. It's not just filling shelves – and filling shelves, by the way, and putting food on the table or giving people clothing is a wonderful thing to do.
“At the same time, you learn communication skills, you learn about product or digital, how to use technology. Retail offers tremendous careers for people – I go back to those first days working at SavaCentre.”
That sort of opportunity still exists for people entering the industry, he believes.
Looking to the future
In the end, though, he believes retail success, at M&S or elsewhere, is down to fundamentals.
He maintains: “Retail is literally about selling and serving, and we can be in danger of overcomplicating. We develop great products and we sell them to customers at the best value possible – that's what we do.”
Day 1,008 is coming to an end. Day 1,009 will soon start and in all the days to come, the restless Machin sees much more to do to take M&S to greater heights.
