Andy Harding joins Mothercare as chief customer officer

Harding, highly regarded in the retail industry for his multichannel expertise, is at present a senior adviser at McKinsey and an advisory board member at tech businesses Yext, Poq and Catapult.

He left his role as chief customer officer at House of Fraser just over a year ago. He will join Mothercare in July, initially on an interim basis.

The role is a new one for the nursery and maternity specialist, which is in the midst of a turnaround strategy.

The appointment came after Mothercare chief executive Mark Newton-Jones unveiled preliminary results showing a rise in full-year UK like-for-likes and shrinking losses this morning, and described the performance as a “watershed moment”.

The retailer made an underlying profit at its UK division for the first time in six years.

On an underlying basis, pre-tax profits across the group were broadly flat at £19.7m despite a 2.2% drop in group sales to £667.4m.

Newton-Jones said he was “pleased” with the progress of the retailer’s turnaround strategy, but insisted it was “only half way through” the transformation plan.

Harding brings experience from retailers including BHS, Carphone Warehouse and Ryman as well as House of Fraser.

His exit was one of a raft of senior departures from House of Fraser, currently in turnaround mode, which included that of chief executive Nigel Oddy who is joining The Range.