Primark has promoted Suzanne Torsney from global head of internal communications and engagement to a newly created role of head of change communications (global).
The new position has been created in response to the sheer scale of transformation underway across Primark, according to Torsney.
Announcing her new role, in a LinkedIn post last month she claimed to be “helping to build something that hasn’t existed in the business before”.
Torsney stated: “Change is now a constant for our colleagues, and how we support leaders and teams through it really matters.” She added: “At its core, this is about connecting strategy to day-to-day experience, ensuring colleagues understand not just what’s changing, but why it matters.”
The post adds that: “This is a role created in response to the scale of transformation underway across Primark, including the next phase of our evolution as a standalone PLC.”
Change comms has become “a more formalised priority for the business”, she says, and she is “excited” at the prospect of “establishing a more consistent, structured approach to change communications”. This means “shifting it from something that can be bolted on at the end, to something that is designed in from the start of our programmes and priorities”.
A “key part” of her role will be “leading the creation of our Change Comms Centre of Excellence”. This is “very much
a build from the ground up, and I’m keen to keep learning from others in this space as we shape it,” she
said.
Torsney has been at Primark for more than seven years, and joined the firm as internal communications manager in
2018. Three years later she was promoted to global head of internal communications and engagement.
Prior to Primark she spent a year as marketing manager at Chill Insurance. Torsney previously spent five years at Lidl Ireland, which she joined as a graduate trainee in 2012 and rose to become acting head of advertising.
Primark has not responded to requests from In.Comms for further details of her new role.