Belinda Earl

Last updated

Belinda Earl
Born
Belinda Jane Earl

(1961-12-20) 20 December 1961 (age 62)
Plymouth, Devon, England
NationalityBritish
Education The University of Wales, Aberystwyth (BSc)
Occupation Merchandiser
Years active1985 – present
TitleNon Executive Director ( Woolworths Holdings Limited (RSA)
Children2

Belinda Jane Earl OBE (born 20 December 1961) is a British businesswoman, and a non-executive director of Woolworths Holdings Limited (RSA) in addition is a senior advisor to NewtonEurope as well as other retail advisory and mentor positions. She was style director of Marks and Spencer from 2012 to 2019. In 2003, she became the youngest FTSE 500 retail chief executive. [1]

Contents

Biography

Earl was born in Plymouth, Devon, and attended St Dunstan's Abbey School for Girls. She started working as a Saturday assistant in the menswear department of her local Debenhams [1] at the age of 16, and managed a gift shop. Following sixth form studies, she studied economics and business at The University of Wales, Aberystwyth. After graduating in 1983 she started as a graduate trainee at Harrods, and was then appointed to a management position in its fashion division.[ citation needed ]

Chief executive/director

Debenhams

In 1985, she left Harrods to become a menswear merchandiser at Debenhams. She rose to become a company director in 1991. She was appointed trading director and joined the board in 1997. She held responsibilities including womenswear, accessories, lingerie, and designers. After Terry Green resigned in 2000, she was appointed CEO of Debenhams. [2] During her administration the company did well despite an unfavourable economic climate. [3] She became the first chief executive of a London Stock Exchange-listed company to take maternity leave with the birth of her second son in 2001. Her planned six weeks' absence made headlines of some national newspapers as a relatively long time for a chief executive to take off work.[ citation needed ] She was re-elected at annual general meetings up to and including 2003.

She left Debenhams in 2003. Her failure that October to secure a buyout of Debenhams by Permira prompted her departure (Debenhams was eventually bought for £1.7 billion by a rival private consortium). [4]

Jaeger

Harold Tillman, a retail entrepreneur, had bought Jaeger in 2002 and had inherited a brand in decline. Earl was initially approached in 2004 [1] and was eventually persuaded to become CEO. Jaeger became a profitable business, growing sales both in retail and online, developed the lines of Jaeger London, Boutique by Jaeger and Jaeger Black as well as expanding internationally during her tenure. She left the business in 2011.

Marks and Spencer

Earl joined Marks and Spencer as style director in September 2012.

She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to retail. [5]

Educational commitments

Earl is a patron of Skillsmart, a retail sector skills council, a fellow of the City & Guilds Institute, and a fellow of the University of Wales.

Personal life

Earl lives in Surrey, with her husband David, a lawyer, and two sons. Ben is an England rugby international and James is a golfer studying at a US university.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debenhams</span> Defunct British department store chain, 1778–2021

Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland, and is still operating as a franchise in seven Middle East countries. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish department store chain Magasin du Nord. In its final years, its headquarters were within the premises of its flagship store in Oxford Street, London. The range of goods sold included middle-to-high-end clothing, beauty, household items, and furniture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Home Stores</span> Former British department store chain

British Home Stores, commonly abbreviated to BHS and latterly legally styled BHS Ltd, was a British department store chain, primarily selling clothing and household items. In its later years, the company began to expand into furniture, electronics, entertainment, convenience groceries and fragrance and beauty products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvey Nichols</span> Department store in London, England

Harvey Nichols is a British luxury department store chain founded in 1831, at its flagship store in Knightsbridge, London. It sells designer fashion collections for men and women, fashion accessories, beauty products, fine wines and luxury foods. It is owned by Hong Kong luxury goods company Dickson Concepts. The chain has 14 locations worldwide across Hong Kong, Ireland, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom, including a Beauty Bazaar in Liverpool and a brasserie in the OXO Tower, London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allders</span> British department store

Allders was an independent department store operating in the United Kingdom.

Jaeger is a British fashion brand and retailer of womenswear and menswear. Traditionally known for a classic 'twinset and pearls' image and the use of high-quality natural fibres, it has focused on updating its brand image since 2008, when it first appeared at London Fashion Week.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aquascutum</span> British luxury clothing company

Aquascutum is a luxury clothing manufacturer and retailer. Originally British, it is currently owned by Shandong Ruyi.

Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM) is a Carlisle-based retailer specialising in clothing, along with interests in homewares and destination shopping for tourists. It was previously owned by the Dubai-based British billionaire Philip Day.

Kim Winser, OBE is a British businesswoman and Founder and CEO of the eponymous womenswear label, Winser London. Winser was the youngest-appointed female commercial divisional board director at Marks & Spencer Plc, a former Chief Executive at Pringle of Scotland and Aquascutum, and former Chairman of Agent Provocateur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moss Bros Group</span> British clothing company

Moss Bros Group is a limited company set up in 1851 by Moses Moss in Covent Garden, London, UK. One of the UK's top menswear shops, specialising in dress wear for formal occasions, Moss Bros has over 150 shops throughout the United Kingdom. It was, until 2020, listed on the London Stock Exchange as a constituent of the FTSE Fledgling Index, before being delisted.

AllSaints is a British fashion retailer headquartered in London, UK. AllSaints sells menswear, womenswear, footwear, and accessories in 281 stores, and has approximately 2,400 employees across 27 countries and regions including the UK, France, Ireland, USA, Mexico, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harold Tillman</span> English retail entrepreneur and investor

Harold Tillman CBE is an English retail entrepreneur and investor. He was formerly head of Jaeger and Aquascutum, who was awarded CBE in 2010. Until September 2014, Tillman was chair of the British Fashion Council. In 2016, he became chair of the Ethical Fashion Group and in 2016 he was appointed Chair of Fashion Matters, London College of Fashion's fundraising committee. In 2019, he was Chief Barker of Variety the children's charity. Most recently, in 2020, Tillman was appointed Enterprise and Business Advisor for the London College of Fashion.

Sonita Alleyne, is the Barbados-born British co-founder and former CEO of Somethin’ Else, a cross-platform media production company. Alleyne is a member of the BBC Trust, the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation, and Master of Jesus College, Cambridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mindy Grossman</span> American businesswoman

Mindy Grossman is the former CEO of WW International. Her earlier career included executive roles at Ralph Lauren Corporation and Nike, and she was also CEO of HSN from 2006 - 2017. She has been listed on Financial Times's list of the Top 50 Women In World Business, and was ranked among Forbes' 100 Most Powerful Women In The World, as well as in Fortune's Top People in Business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Cheshire (businessman)</span> British businessman (born 1959)

Sir Ian Michael Cheshire is a British businessman, formerly chairman of Barclays UK, the ring-fenced UK subsidiary of Barclays. He stepped down on 1 January 2021 and was succeeded by Crawford Gillies. He is lead non-executive director for the Cabinet Office board, campaign chairman of Heads Together, chair of The Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund, chair of the independent charity, the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission, and a trustee of The Institute for Government. He was previously chief executive (CEO) of Kingfisher plc, a British multinational retailing company, and was chairman of the British department store chain Debenhams from 2016 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamara Ingram</span> British businesswoman

Tamara Ingram, OBE is a British businesswoman. Tamara is currently chairman of integrated content agency The 10 Group, Asthma and Lung UK, Chair of the ESG committee as a NED for Marks and Spencer and non executive director of Intertek and Marsh Mclennan.

Simon John Roberts is a British businessman, and the chief executive officer (CEO) of Sainsbury's since 1 June 2020, having previously been retail operations director. He is a former managing director of Boots UK.

Sergio Bucher Rodriguez is a dual-nationality Spanish/Swiss businessman. He became the chief executive of Debenhams in October 2016, succeeding Michael Sharp. He stepped down in 2019 as the business was taken over by lenders. He currently serves as Member of the executive board for the Otto Group and Non-executive director for Namshi.com in Dubai.

Anders Christian Kristiansen is a Danish businessman and an ex-chief Executive of the British retail chain New Look. He was appointed Chief executive of Esprit in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Amiri</span> Iranian-American fashion designer (born 1976)

Mike Amiri is an American fashion designer. He is the founder and creative director of the California-based luxury fashion house, AMIRI.

Ruth Elizabeth Chapman is co-founder and former co-CEO of luxury fashion retailer MATCHESFASHION.COM.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Martinson, Jane (14 December 2006). "Queen of Retail makes dull brand shine". The Guardian.
  2. ↑ "Debenhams boss steps down". BBC News. 13 September 2000.
  3. ↑ Murray-West, Rosie (17 January 2001). "Debenhams bucks trend with improved results". Telegraph UK.
  4. ↑ Mesure, Susie (24 October 2003). "Earl's Debenhams days numbered as Permira pulls out". The Independent.[ permanent dead link ]
  5. ↑ "No. 61962". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 June 2017. p. B11.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.