Shop Direct raids Clarks for new chief financial officer

The pureplay retailer said that Fletcher would join on January 6 and would report directly to chief executive Henry Birch as a member of its executive board.

Fletcher joins Shop Direct from Clarks, where he has been in post since 2017. Since joining Clarks, Fletcher led its £1bn-revenue, 9,000-staff European business and was “responsible for customer-centric investments including a new European fulfilment centre; delivering significant digital expansion and increased engagement”.

He joined Clarks from Walgreens BootsAlliance, where he worked for six years, most recently as the managing director of Boots Opticians. In his time there, Boots Opticians grew market share, revenue, profit and EBITDA year on year. He also held the roles of finance director for Boots UK and Ireland, and commercial finance director for Boots UK.

Prior to joining the retail sector, Fletcher worked for FMCG business Procter & Gamble, culminating as its global finance director for the company’s Salon Professional business based in Geneva.

Fletcher is a non-executive board member at the BRC. He will lead Shop Direct’s 150-strong finance team, taking over from interim chief financial officer Dominic Appleton.

Appleton will remain with the pureplay retailer as finance director.

Birch said: “Ben is an outstanding finance and general management leader, who has consistently delivered growth across large and complex consumer businesses. He’s proven to be customer and colleague-focused, with significant experience in online.

“He’ll play a vital part as we invest to be the number one destination for shoppers who value a combination of leading brands and flexible ways to pay.”

Fletcher said: “Shop Direct is an ambitious business with an outstanding history and an exciting future. Its transformation to date has been industry-leading, but there’s still work to do.

“I’m excited to be joining a business that’s at the centre of retail, financial services and digital, and squarely focused on understanding and serving its customers even better.”