M&S Food marketing director Sharry Cramond will transition to lead the retailer’s clothing and home business, as incumbent Anna Braithwaite departs the brand.
Marks & Spencer’s marketing leadership is undergoing a reshuffle, as the brand’s clothing and home marketing director Anna Braithwaite departs the business, with food marketing director Sharry Cramond set to take over the role.
Cramond has led M&S Food’s marketing since 2018 and in 2023 also took on responsibility for leading the Sparks loyalty programme across the business. At the beginning of next month, she will transition to become marketing director for the fashion, food and beauty business, filling the role left by Braithwaite.
She will retain responsibility for the Sparks programme, as well as cross-business responsibilities for masterbrand marketing, M&S says.
Recruitment for Cramond’s current role as marketing director of the food business is ongoing.
Braithwaite is departing her role as marketing director for the clothing and home business to pursue new opportunities. She has been at the centre of M&S’s transformation, leading on one of its core missions to drive style perceptions and broaden the appeal of its clothing.
Speaking to Marketing Week in September, Braithwaite hailed the progress it had made on this mission, stating that the clothing business had enjoyed “a brilliant couple of years”, but said there was still much to do.
Commenting on Cramond’s transition to lead the department’s marketing, the business says her goals in the role will be to help M&S maintain its top quality and value perceptions, “and keep driving style”. Cramond will combine her experience from her time at M&S so far with clothing retail experience, having previously overseen marketing in fashion departments at Tesco and Target.
Braithwaite is yet to announce her next venture. Prior to M&S she worked at Tesco on its non-food business. She began her career at John Lewis & Partners, which she joined as a graduate trainee, spending 11 years at the business before departing her role as brand marketing manager in 2013.
It’s been an extremely successful few years generally for the M&S brand, with Cramond and Braithwaite at the helm of the marketing department. According to Kantar’s 2024 BrandZ ranking, which takes the financial value created by a brand in US dollars and multiplies it by brand contribution, M&S’s brand value increased by 38% in 2024 versus the previous year taking it to $2.47bn (£1.85bn). This led to a 13-place rise in the ranking to become the UK’s 23rd most valuable brand.
M&S was also named YouGov’s ‘best brand’ of last year, after it achieved the highest brand health score out of any UK brand across the previous 12 months.
This has translated to strong financial results, with CEO Stuart Machin telling media earlier this month that the retailer is in its “best financial health for nearly 30 years”. All this led to M&S being awarded the accolade of Marketing Week’s Brand of the Year in 2024.
However, M&S’s positive growth story has been somewhat overshadowed in recent weeks by a cyber attack, which disrupted the business and meant it paused online shopping. Speaking during its results last month, M&S forecast it would take a £300m profit hit as a result of the attack. The decision to pause online shopping has “heavily impacted” sales and trading profit in its fashion, home and beauty division, it said, while food sales have been impacted by “reduced availability”.
As the retailer recovers from the cyber attack, it will feel more pressure to continue delivering the positive progress it has displayed in recent years. In fashion, home and beauty, the retailer is targeting increased market share.
