Chairman of Marks & Spencer addresses food & drink industry leaders on business transformation
7th October 2018
Archie Norman presents at the 7th annual Walker Morris Food & Drink Leadership Dinner
Over 60 leading influential individuals from the food & drink sector gathered to hear Archie Norman, Chairman of Marks & Spencer, speak at the 7th annual Walker Morris Food & Drink Leadership Dinner last night.
The dinner, which has firmly established itself as a key fixture on the food & drink industry calendar, is renowned for its eminent speakers and lively debate.
Archie Norman was appointed as Chairman to Marks & Spencer in September 2017. He has extensive retail experience having been instrumental in transforming a number of major British businesses including: Kingfisher, Asda and Energis. He is Chairman of Lazard UK and has served as Chairman of ITV and Hobbycraft. He was the first and only FTSE 100 Chairman to be elected a Member of Parliament, where he served for eight years.
Archie Norman spoke of how businesses are increasingly faced with making fundamental changes at the heart of their organisations to support and innovate new business strategies. He explained business transformation is not necessarily a one-off event and that businesses must challenge themselves to ensure they can survive and thrive.
Richard Naish, Head of the Food & Drink Group said:
“On behalf of Walker Morris and everyone who attended the dinner, I’d like to offer our gratitude to Archie for leading an insightful and entertaining discussion last night. Archie is renowned as a pillar of the retail and political world and it was a privilege to be able to share in the experiences of someone who has led the transformation of major British businesses.
“The success of our Food & Drink Leadership Dinner is a result of the high calibre speakers we’ve been honoured to host, together with the support from our clients and contacts in the sector. I’d like to thank everyone who attended for continuing to make the dinner such an enjoyable evening.”
Previous speakers at the Dinner have included: Heather Hancock, chair of the Food Standards Agency, Mike Coupe, Chief Executive of Sainsbury’s, David Salkeld former CEO of Symington’s, Tim Smith, former Tesco Group Technical Director, Jim McCarthy former Chief Executive of Poundland Group plc and Andrew Higginson, Chairman of Morrisons.
Read about our 2017 dinner with Heather Hancock, chair of the Food Standards Agency Board, here.
Read about our 2016 dinner with the Chairman of Morrisons here.
