Marks & Spencer has appointed Sital Nakarja to lead the transformation of its merchandising planning platform.

Nakarja joins M&S from AllSaints, where she served as head of merchandising innovation. She arrives at a time when the high street giant is investing heavily in data-led decision making and technology across its core retail functions.

In a post announcing her appointment on LinkedIn, Nakarja said: “I’m excited to share that I’ve joined Marks and Spencer to lead a large scale transformation of the Planning Programme, working across fashion, home & beauty.

“The opportunity to join an iconic brand like M&S, helping to modernise planning, strengthen data-led decision making and to help shape the future of retail buying and merchandising operations, was one I felt I couldn’t pass up.

“The M&S team have been great in the last few weeks and I’m excited for what’s to come.”

In her new role, Nakarja will oversee a large-scale transformation programme aimed at modernising M&S’s planning infrastructure and strengthening its buying and merchandising capabilities.

Before joining AllSaints, she spent more than four years at Primark, most recently as system implementation lead for buying and merchandising.

During her time there, she led the rollout of a merchandise planning solution focused on areas including pre-season planning, open-to-buy management and size curve optimisation.

Her career spans a number of major retail and fashion businesses, including River Island, Tesco, Asos and Miss Selfridge. She also previously held a general manager role at Chiquita Bacana, a supplier to retailers including New Look and Topshop, and co-founded STEM-focused education business Code Ninjas during the Covid-19 period.

The appointment forms part of M&S’s broader strategy to modernise its retail operations and improve how data and technology support decision making across the business.

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