Fortnum & Mason plots rapid food delivery service
Fortnum & Mason is looking to enter the rapid food delivery space and expand online.
“The underlying story [this year] has been one of growth online. We thought this would slow after the shops reopened but it hasn’t,” Chief Executive Tom Athron told the Financial Times.
“We will probably do rapid delivery in partnership, but I don’t just want to list items on Amazon or Gorillas, that would be the wrong way to go about it.”
“In a world of constrained capital I would rather invest online. I can understand why Selfridges and Harvey Nichols expanded their store estates outside of London, but they took those decisions many years ago,” Athron continued.
Iain Robertson
Fortnum & Mason recently appointed Iain Robertson to the newly created role of Chief Operating and Innovation Officer.
He will start working at the luxury British brand in February, and will be responsible for supply chain and logistics. Robertson joins from Burberry, where he has been for 17 years, most recently in the role of Senior Vice President of Global Planning & Inventory.
According to a press release, he will enable Fortnum & Mason to “build more scalable operational and logistics capabilities to enhance customer experience, embrace leading edge thinking in operational efficiency and warehouse management and enable the growth of Fortnum’s business worldwide.”
His remit will also include leadership of Fortnum’s innovation agenda, which aims to deploy new ideas and initiatives designed to improve the experience of the company’s customers and people.
CEO Tom Athron commented: “I am delighted to be welcoming Iain to Fortnum & Mason in the next few months, to complete the line up of my executive team.”
“Iain has shown incredible innovation in his time at Burberry and I am looking forward to seeing how he works with our supply chain and logistics teams to further transform what we are doing at Fortnum’s.”
“As our first Chief Operating and Innovation Officer, we are looking forward to leveraging his great experience in the luxury sector.”
Robertson said: “I am excited to be coming onboard to such an iconic British brand, one that I have long admired from afar.”
“Come February, I’ll be diving into the behind the scenes at Fortnum’s and working with Tom and the wider team to continue the ambitious plan to better serve our customers around the world.”
