Shop Direct deputy chief executive Gareth Jones exits

Jones is understood to not have another role lined up.

He said in a statement: “Now is the right time for me to explore other opportunities and do something different for me and my family.”

Shop Direct has recruited Groupon’s EMEA chief marketing officer and vice president Sasha Berson as group strategy and customer director.

Berson will sit on the board and will join Shop Direct in September.

Shop Direct has outlined his remit “as turbocharg[ing] the company’s progress on its journey to become a world-class digital retailer by releasing the full potential of its wealth of customer data”.

He was formerly at eBay, where he led online and mobile marketing for Europe as well as the marketing to support its expansion into China, Latin America and Russia.

Jones will head up trading, marketing and ecommerce and Very Exclusive until a replacement is found and appointed to the board.

Personalised shopping

Shop Direct boss Alex Baldock said: “As the UK’s second-largest pureplay online retailer, we hold a deep and rich set of data on our customers’ browsing and buying habits.

“When combined with the financial services data that comes from being one of the country’s biggest non-bank consumer lenders, we’re in a unique position to build the world’s most personalised shopping experience.

“Sasha’s arrival marks the next step forward for us in terms of understanding the power of our data and how we invest in it to drive commercial advantage and deliver an outstanding customer experience. It’s an important hire for us and I look forward to working with him.”

On Jones’s departure he said: “[Gareth’s] leadership has played a big part in our success and will leave big shoes to fill. When it comes time to say goodbye at the end of the year, I’ll gratefully wish him every future success.”

Jones’s departure comes three months after Retail Week revealed that group customer director Dene Jones was leaving the business after two and a half years.