M&S has appointed Andrew Mann as its new head of insight & loyalty, and Samantha Hornsby as head of food online.

Samantha Hornsby: head of food online

Earlier this month, Samantha Hornsby joined M&S taking up the role of head of food online.

Hornsby joins the business having spent the past nine years with Tesco where she carried out several roles, acting most recently as head of online range & development.

During her time at Tesco, Hornsby was responsible for overseeing changes to Tesco’s F&F online clothing business.

Hornsby succeeds Tim Lee, who left M&S last October to head up meal subscription service, Mindful Chef.

Andrew Mann: head of insight & loyalty

M&S appointed Andrew Mann as its new head of insight and loyalty.

Mann brings a wealth of retail experience to the role, having spent time with Asda, Coop, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.

Most recently, Mann spent nearly two years with Asda acting as vice president for insight, pricing & digital CRM.

In his new role, Mann will work closely with Jeremy Pee, M&S’s recently appointed chief digital and data officer, responsible for overseeing the retailer's digital transformation programme.

Want to know more?

Retail Analysis subscribers can read and download our latest insight on M&S here.

The retailers take different, innovative approaches to long-term reduction of plastic waste.

M&S supporting circular economy with plastic take-back initiative

New recycling bins in store will allow shoppers to return plastic packaging which they can't recycle at home. This includes items such as black ready meal trays and cosmetics containers. Packaging collected will be used to create store fittings, furniture and playground equipment.

Initially eight stores will trial the new bins, with plans to roll out across the estate by the end of 2019.

M&S will also introduce collection points in primary schools across the country, in collaboration with waste education social enterprise Wastebusters.

Senior Packaging Technologist at M&S Laura Fernandez commented "We're on a mission to provide greater awareness of landfill avoidance and plastic recyclability, while ultimately helping our customers to give plastic a new purpose and support a truly circular economy"

Waitrose launches £1m Plan Plastic fund

Waitrose & Partners has come together with environmental charity Hubbub to launch this new initiative. Over one year the fund will provide grants totalling £1m with money generated from the sale of 5p carrier bags. By March 2019, Waitrose has committed to removing all 5p plastic bags from its stores.

The fund is open to a wide range of applicants, including charities, schools and colleges and social enterprises. Their submissions will be reviewed by an expert panel, with winners announced in May 2019.

Project areas of interest include:

• Plastics in the community
• Education
• Public behaviour change
• Food, agriculture and farming
• Micro-plastics

Trewin Restorick, CEO and Founder of Hubbub said "Waitrose’s new grant fund is tremendously exciting as it will support innovative thinking on how to combat the issue of plastic pollution. We’ll be on the lookout for entries that really demonstrate a tangible impact and that will have a longer-term legacy beyond the grant funding stage".

M&S announces a new plastic-free produce trial and proposes 17 more store closures as it progresses its transformation strategy.

M&S plastic-free produce aisles trial

M&S has launched over 90 lines of loose fruit and vegetables completely free of plastic packaging across two aisles in a new three month trial at the Tolworth store.

The range includes harder products such as potatoes, as well as soft fruits, which will now be sold in compostable punnets. The retailer has also removed ‘best before’ dates from fresh fruit and vegetables to help prevent food waste. Tolworth shoppers will also be able to get tips and advice from a trained greengrocer in the store.

Louise Nicholls, Head of Food Sustainability, commented on the move, “Our trial at Tolworth is an important milestone in our plastic reduction journey and bringing back the traditional greengrocer will play a key part in educating our customers. Our plan is to create long-term impact in the future using tangible insights from the Tolworth store trial.”

Reducing plastic across the wider estate

This latest development is part of M&S's long-term strategy to become a zero-waste business by 2025.

In tandem with the Tolworth trial, M&S is also launching additional loose produce lines and introducing innovative new packaging solutions. This work includes replacing plastic produce bags with paper ones and phasing out plastic barcode stickers in favour of eco-friendly alternatives.

Latest store closure announcements

M&S has proposed the closure of a further 17 stores, as part of its plan to close 100 stores by 2022.

The stores are: Ashford, Barrow, Bedford, Boston, Buxton, Cwmbran, Deal, Felixstowe, Huddersfield, Hull, Junction One Antrim Outlet, Luton Arndale, Newark, Northwich, Rotherham, Sutton Coldfield and Weston-super-Mare.

In its recent Q3 results the retailer indicated sales transfer rates from closed stores to other parts of the estate were "solid" for both food and clothing & home.

Want to know more?

Retail Analysis subscribers can read our latest insight on M&S here.

Retail Analysis subscribers can access our ‘UK action on plastic’ presentation here.