Stuart Rose

Sir Stuart Rose
Born	Stuart Alan Ransom Rose (1949-03-17) 17 March 1949 Gosport, Hampshire, England
Nationality	British
Ethnicity	White British
Occupation	Businessman
Years active	1972–present
Net worth	£34 million (est.) (2011)[1]
Title	CEO of Burton Group PLC (1994–?) CEO of Argos (1997–?) CEO of Arcadia Group (2000–02) CEO of M&S (2004–10) Executive chairman of M&S (2008–11) Non-executive director of Woolworths Holdings Ltd. (2011–present)
Spouse(s)	Jennifer Cook (m. 1973–2010) (divorced)
Partner(s)	Kate Reardon (until 2009)
Children	2

Sir Stuart Alan Ransom Rose (born 17 March 1949) is a British businessman, who was the executive chairman of the British retailer Marks & Spencer. For this role he was paid an annual salary of £1,130,000.^[2] Following the appointment of Marc Bolland in May 2010, Rose stepped down as executive chairman at the end of July 2010 and remained as Chairman until early 2011 when he was replaced by Robert Swannell. He was knighted in 2008 for his services to the retail industry.

Early life

Rose’s grandparents were White Russian émigrés who fled to China after the 1917 revolution. Their son, Rose's father, was unofficially adopted by an English Quaker spinster, who offered to take him to safety in England as war loomed. The original family name was Bryantzeff, which Rose's father, ex-RAF and civil servant, changed.^[3] His mother's side is English, Scottish and Greek.^[4][5] The young family lived in a caravan in Warwickshire until Rose senior obtained a posting with the Imperial Civil Service in Tanganyika (now Tanzania). Rose went to the Roman Catholic St Joseph's Convent School in Dar es Salaam until he was 11. When he was 13 years old his family returned to England and his parents sent him to Bootham School, an independent Quaker boarding school in York.^[4] His first job was as an administration assistant at the BBC.

Career

Rose first joined Marks & Spencer in 1972, as a management trainee. Rose remained with Marks & Spencer until 1989, when he joined the Burton Group as Chief Executive in 1994. The Burton Group demerged, forming the Arcadia and Debenhams businesses.

In 1997, he joined Argos as Chief Executive, where he was charged with defending the company against a takeover bid from the home shopping giant, Great Universal Stores (GUS). Ultimately, GUS did succeed in taking control of Argos, although Rose was widely praised for negotiating an increased price for the retailer.

In a turbulent time in its history, Rose became the Chief Executive of Booker plc, where he oversaw the merger of the company with Iceland to form the Big Food Group.

Rose joined the Arcadia Group in 2000 as Chief Executive and left in 2002 following its acquisition. Rose turned around the fortunes of the Arcadia Group, and sold the group for over £800m, netting himself around £25m as part of the deal.

He was appointed to the position of Chief Executive of Marks & Spencer in May 2004 at the age of 56 and subsequently fought off several takeover bids by Philip Green for the Group. Rose appeared to be rejuvenating the Marks & Spencer Group as he did at Arcadia. In January 2007, he was named the "2006 Business Leader of the Year" by the World Leadership Forum for his efforts in restoring the fortunes of Marks and Spencer. He was knighted in the 2008 New Year Honours and was appointed Chairman of Business in the Community on 1 January 2008.

On 10 March 2008, it was reported that Rose was to become Executive Chairman of Marks & Spencer from 1 June 2008.^[6] However, in the light of a recent profits warning, which sparked an unprecedented thirty per cent-plus plunge in the company's shares, this appointment caused some concern to many shareholders.^[7] Nevertheless, they voted to re-appoint him at their annual meeting on 9 July 2008.

He stepped down as Chief Executive in May 2010, as Executive Chairman in July 2010, and as Chairman in January 2011 following the appointment of Robert Swannell.

On 19 January 2011 Rose was appointed as a non-executive director of Woolworths Holdings Ltd, a large South African retail group listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.^[8]

On 6 September 2012 Rose was appointed as non-executive Chairman of Dressipi.com, an online personalised fashion service that matches clothes and accessories to a shopper's shape, style and individual preferences.^[9]

On 22 January 2013 it was announced that Rose will be appointed as an independent Non-Executive Director and Chairman Designate of Ocado, a UK internet-only grocery retailer, effective from the 11th of March.^[10]

Marks & Spencer's 'Plan A' policy

As the company chairman, Rose was personally committed to further promoting green issues and the recycling of plastic bottles at Marks & Spencer. He had also pledged to reduce non-glass wastage by 25% and plastic carrier bag usage by 33% in the near future.^[11]

Personal life

When Rose was 26 years old his mother committed suicide at the age of 49 by taking an overdose combined with alcohol. She had a history of depression. He sees his elderly father every month for lunch out.^[4]

Rose lives in central London and Suffolk. He married Jennifer Cook in 1973 in St Marylebone; the couple have a son and daughter. After they separated, Rose lived with fashion writer Kate Reardon. After separating from Reardon in 2009, and stepping down from his positions at M&S, Rose and Jennifer divorced in 2010.^[12]

On 16 July 2010, Rose was honored by the University of Leeds, receiving an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLB) from the same university and venue from which his son graduated.^[13]

Immigration views

In December 2013, Rose defended immigrants arriving to UK. Not on the grounds of the universal equality, but on financial benefits for his company and businesses in UK. He also stated that immigrants take jobs which others don't want and are necessary for some companies to operate or expand.^[14][15]

References

External links

• Marks and Spencer website
• Mvumi School Trust, of which Rose is a Trustee.