// M&S hires McDonald’s chief people officer as human resources director
// Harriet Hounsell will join office in October
Marks & Spencer has appointed McDonald’s chief people officer Harriet Hounsell as its new human resources director.
The bellwether retailer aims to overhaul its culture with Hounsell’s appointment, which chairman Archie Norman has described as “slow” and “resistant to change”, according to the Mail on Sunday.
Hounsell will join office in October, and will replace outgoing human resources director David Guise, who announced his departure in May, after less than three years at the company.
M&S informed staff of the appointment on Friday in an email which said she will “help to accelerate our transformation programme”.
The news of the appointment follows M&S’s managing director of clothing and home Jill McDonald resigning from her role, making her the retailer’s fourth fashion boss to exit in a decade.
In M&S’s latest results for the year to March 30, UK clothing and home revenues fell by 3.6 per cent overall, and by 1.6 per cent on a like-for-like basis.
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
