When Pets at Home hired Lyssa McGowan yesterday it became one of the very few big retailers to have a female CEO at it’s helm.
In fact, it is one of just two FTSE 250 retailers to have a female CEO. However, this is a marked improvement on last year as the second retailer, Greggs, only appointed its female CEO Roisin Currie this month.
While the lack of women at the very top of retail is shocking, there are some phenomenal female leaders in the sector.
Retail Gazette shines a light on the most powerful women in the retail sector.
Jo Whitfield, chief executive, Co-op Food
Jo Whitfield is one of the few female leaders in the world of grocery and since she was appointed to the top job at Co-op Food she has helped the business motor.
Whitfield has overseen an unparalleled period of growth for the grocer, has pioneered initiatives such as home delivery through both Deliveroo and its own website, and helped navigate the grocer through the most difficult period of its history – the Covid pandemic.
She was awarded a CBE for her services to retail and the food supply chain during the pandemic and helped ensured the nation was fed.
Whitfield is a fine ambassador for the retail industry and has campaigned tirelessly to stop the abuse the store staff across the sector face, even calling for legal changes to protect workers.
She also is passionate about diversity in leadership and is an ambassador for Girls Out Loud, a member of Women in Retail group and leads the Co-op Aspire Network, championing internal progression for all talented individuals.
Jacqueline Gold, chief executive, Ann Summers
Jacqueline Gold is a formidable businesswoman. Ann Summers may have been set up by her father David but it’s Jacqueline that built it into the empire that it is today.
Ann Summers was floundering when a young Jacqueline attended a Tupperware party and had the lightbulb moment of replicating the model and creating the famous Ann Summers party.
The concept revolutionised the business and turned it into a brand for women rather than men.
Gold’s mission was, and still is, to empower women in the bedroom and she will not let anything stand in her way. She’s been arrested twice, taken to court a number of times and even had a bullet through the post from those opposed to her opening Ann Summers shops.
However, she’s succeeded in building a business with more than 60 high street stores and, despite financial troubles in recent years, the business is back in profit with sales growing thanks to its burgeoning online arm.
Gold is as passionate for female empowerment in the boardroom as she is in the bedroom. She is the driving force of #WOW – Women on Wednesday – an initiative on Twitter that offers businesswomen a place to network, celebrate success and gain Gold’s support and advice on how to build their businesses.
Melanie Smith, chief executive, Ocado Retail
When M&S formed a joint venture with Ocado to take its food offer online there was only one person it wanted to lead the business – strategy director Melanie Smith.
When the former McKinsey exec joined M&S in 2017 she was touted for big things. She had a wealth of business experience and had held roles such as strategy and marketing director at Bupa Global and chief operating officer at Talk Talk.
She was leading group strategy, M&S Bank and M&S Services before she was tasked with taking the reins at Ocado in 2019, a job that came with high expectations.
She has not just met those expectations but surpassed them as the Ocado business is thriving and is the fastest growing grocer in the UK.
Smith has delivered this despite having the most demanding first year at the helm possible. She helped Ocado navigate a global pandemic and not just spearheaded its growth, but fed the nation in the process. Smith was awarded a CBE for her efforts during the pandemic.
Louise Greenlees, president, TJX Europe
Louise Greenlees joined TJX as managing director of what was then its new Homesense store in 2010.
She had a wealth of experience, particularly in the fashion sector, before taking the role, and had been buying director for Mackays Stores for seven years, and prior to that buying and merchandise director at Long Tall Sally.
Despite fashion being her forte, she made a roaring success of homewares chain Homesense, which led to her being promoted to managing director of TK Maxx in the UK before becoming president of TJX Europe in 2015.
Greenlees is now in charge of a value retail empire and is responsible for more than 600 stores across six European countries.
Alison Loehnis, president of luxury and fashion, Yoox Net-a-Porter
Alison Loehnis is the undisputed queen of luxury fashion. She has been pivotal in the growth of Net-a-Porter since she joined the firm back in 2007.
Net-a-Porter founder Natalie Massenet created the role of vice president specifically for Loehnis and that faith has paid off.
Loehnis was heavily involved in setting up The Outnet, Net-a-Porter’s discount website which was a game-changer for the luxury retailer, generating lots of business and solving Net’s problem of what to do with old stock.
She also helped launch menswear site Mr Porter and was pivotal in the development of its Extremely Important People loyalty programme
Net was merged with Italian fashion giant Yoox in 2015, and Loehnis was promoted to lead the main Net-a-Porter business, along with The Outnet and Mr Porter.
Just last month she added a non-executive role to her portfolio, joining Lululemon’s board of directors where her experience will help inform the yoga brand’s global expansion.
Liz Evans, managing director, George at Asda
When Liz Evans took on the role as boss of George at Asda last year, she became the leader of the UK’s second largest fashion business.
It’s a big role but Evans is one of the most experienced leaders in high street fashion. She was chief executive of Fat Face from 2019 to 2021 and before that was the boss of Oasis, Warehouse and Coast.
Evans spent her early career at M&S, where she joined as a management trainee and progressed through the business in roles across retail, womenswear and international.
She is also an advocate for the development of female leaders in retail and a non-executive director on the Prince’s Trust Trading Board.
Alessandra Bellini, chief customer officer, Tesco
Alessandra Bellini is effectively Tesco chief executive Ken Murphy’s second in command.
Bellini, who joined Tesco in 2017 from Unilever, is responsible for building the brand globally and putting the customer at the heart of everything it does.
She was appointed by former Tesco boss Dave Lewis, another ex-Unilever exec, who was tasked with turning around the grocer.
Lewis had been impressed by marketing guru Bellini’s efforts reviving some of the FMCG giant’s biggest brands.
Bellini was vice president for Unilever’s food business in North America and had successfully rejuvenated its ice cream brands, which included Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum, Popsicle, Klondike and Breyers, and helped them become the market leader in the US for the first time.
She has worked the same magic at Tesco and has helped revive the business, which was struggling when she arrived.
In her five years at the grocer, she has reasserted its price credentials to help it fight back against the discounters, revamped its Clubcard scheme, which now offers members exclusive prices, and has succeeded in bringing customers back to the brand.
In fact, Tesco ended 2021 with it’s highest market share on record.
READ MORE: Just 18 new retail CEOs hired in 2021, the lowest level in a decade
Lyssa McGowan, chief executive designate, Pets at Home
Lyssa McGowan will be catapulted into the league of as one of retail’s most powerful when she becomes top dog at Pets at Home on 1 June.
McGowan has spent the majority of her career in the telecoms sector. She has spent a decade at Sky, rising through the ranks to become chief consumer officer in 2019, where she is responsible for its more than 10 million customers, and before that held roles at Telewest.
Her experience in customer and digital-first initiatives were highlighted by Pets at Home chairman Ian Burke as strong assets which she would bring to the world of retail.
However, McGowan is no stranger to the sector and was non-executive director on Morrisons’ board until it was sold to private equity firm CD&R in October.
As well as her stellar corporate experience, McGowan also has a strong academic grounding and achieved an MBA with high distinction from Harvard Business School.
Although relatively unproven in the world of retail, she is clearly an impressive woman and analysts have reacted very favourably to her appointment with brokers at Liberum labelling her a “high quality, very experienced hire”.
The retail industry will be waiting in anticipation to find out what she does next to keep Pets at Home, which has been a perennial over-performer in recent years, best in show.
Roisin Currie, chief executive, Greggs
Like McGowan, Currie has recently joined the realms of retail’s most powerful females. She took over from Greggs’ long-time boss Roger Whiteside this month and aims to lead the pasty purveyor on the road to recovery after a difficult couple years when Covid has battered the business.
Currie is a safe pair of hands as she helped build Greggs into the business it is today. She joined Greggs in 2010 and was responsible for retail and property prior to taking the top job.
She helped developed its online business, which has been pivotal in getting the food-on-the-go specialist through the pandemic.
Currie joined Greggs from Asda where she held the position of people director and this background in people will help her get the most out of her staff.
Greggs chairman Ian Durant said when he appointed her: “She has deep experience of our culture and our strategic plan, and will lead with energy and character.“
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