A Life in Retail: Past, present and future Lord Stuart Rose

Event details

Stuart Rose, a veteran of British retail, shares insights into his career and thoughts about the future of the UK economy.

Beginning his career as a management trainee at Marks & Spencer in 1972, Stuart spent 17 years at the high street icon.  After leaving M&S in1989 he held leadership roles at the Burton Group, Argos, Booker/Iceland and Arcadia Group.  At Arcadia he turned the business around and sold it to Philip Green in 2002.

Stuart returned to Marks & Spencer in 2004 as Chief Executive.  Here he fought off a high-profile takeover bid from Philip Green, turning around a declining performance and maintaining M&S’s independence as a public company.  He subsequently became Executive Chairman and stood down in 2010.

Stuart is currently Chairman of Zenith Automotive, and a Director of EG Group, a leading global petrol forecourt retail convenience operator.  He is also a Non-Executive Director at Time Out Group.

His non-executive career has included roles at Woolworth Holdings SA, Majid Al Futaim in Dubai, and Ocado, where he spent seven years as Chairman between 2013 and 2020. He was Chairman of Asda’s board of directors between 2021-2024.  

He was knighted in 2008 for services to the retail industry and corporate social responsibility and granted a life peerage in 2014.

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