Stuart Machin, chief executive of Marks and Spencer, has announced the appointment of Alex Doorey as the retailer’s new corporate affairs chief.
“Delighted to share that Alex Doorey will be joining M&S as our new Corporate Affairs Director,” he said, in a post on LinkedIn on Wednesday.
“Alex comes on board in March – like all our senior leaders, she’ll spend her first four weeks learning the business by working alongside colleagues in our stores and depots before getting started in her role.”
Doorey stepped down from Ovo Energy, where she was vice president, corporate affairs, brand and marketing and sustainability, last month.
She will take over from Jon Church, ex-head of external comms and campaigns at M&S, who has been interim corporate affairs director at M&S since Victoria McKenzie-Gould stepped down last year after seven years in the role. McKenzie-Gould is now chief corporate affairs & sustainability officer at The Magnum Ice Cream Company, a role she started last month.
Doorey “brings lots of experience to our Executive Committee, most recently at the energy supplier OVO,” said Machin. “She previously held senior roles at major consumer brands including eBay, Sainsbury’s and O2, working on the Virgin Media O2 joint venture.”
Doorey will inherit “a talented leadership team with Lucy Reynolds leading External Communications and Adam Hawksbee leading our Government and Public Affairs agenda”, according to the M&S chief executive.
“She will have a handover period with Jon Church, who has been supporting us as Interim Corporate Affairs Director. Jon will stay on in an advisory capacity as Alex completes her induction and I would like to thank him for his hard work and tremendous support.”
Responding to Machin’s post, Doorey said: “I am thrilled to be joining Stuart Machin and the team at M&S. M&S is the UK’s most loved brand for a reason – it has a clear purpose, outstanding product, and a strong customer focus”.
Doorey has worked in comms for more than 15 years and, prior to joining Ovo Energy in 2022, was director of external communications and sustainability at Virgin Media O2. Other previous roles include head of UK communications at eBay and corporate communications manager at Sainsbury’s.
Earlier in her career, Doorey worked as a media adviser at the Conservative Party.