M&S tech boss Jeremy Pee is set to depart the retailer just months after assuming an expanded position.
Pee was responsible for driving the expansion of the retailer’s online shopping app and the Sparks loyalty programme.
His departure creates a vacancy in the top ranks at the high-street retailer, as its turnaround builds pace.
Chief digital and technology officer Pee was hired back in 2018 from Canada’s largest supermarket chain Loblaw.
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According to the Times, it is understood that Pee is leaving to return to Canada.
“After five years at M&S, Jeremy is moving his family back to Canada in a planned move,” a spokesman for the retail chain told the title.
His responsibilities will be taken on by M&S’s co-chief executive officer Katie Bickerstaffe until a replacement is found.
Pee led the overhaul of M&S’s digital capabilities, such as including turning its stores into hubs for click-and-collect purchases and installing digital screens that allow customers to return unwanted clothing.
Under his helm, the number of active users of M&S’s app soared by 40% to 4.3m people last year.
Back in January, Bickerstaffe expanded Pee’s role from focusing on data to a broader technology remit as chief executive Stuart Machin looks to accelerate the retailer’s adoption of technology across the business as its recovery continues.
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