Group Digital Director Marc Vicente departs UK as he ends journey at home improvement retailer Kingfisher

Marc Vicente is leaving Kingfisher, a home improvement company with over 2,000 stores, and operations in eight countries across Europe that operates under retail banners including B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt, and Screwfix, where he held the role of Group Digital Director.

In a LinkedIn post, he said: “After nearly four amazing years, I've decided to end my journey at Kingfisher to take on new challenges. Moving my family from Barcelona to London was a big step (and yes, the weather did take some getting used to!), but it's been an incredible adventure.”

He added: “One of Kingfisher's many strengths is its incredibly kind and friendly colleagues.”

“Now, I'm leaving behind many friends. I'm proud of the strides we've made, particularly in building our marketplace business model from zero to ~45% of our digital operations. It's been an honour to oversee our e-commerce growth, retail media, and data and AI functions alongside an extraordinary team (too many to name you all). I'm truly proud of what we've accomplished together.”

“Now I leave you with the great Romain Roulleau, who will take over digital, and Christopher Blatchford (my partner in crime and brosky!), who, along with Dr. Simon Jury will manage the data team. I'm leaving things in great hands and wish them every success moving forward>”

Vicente is now preparing for his next venture (more on which will be revealed soon), and is returning to Spain with his family.

2024 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

Digital retail was a key focus area at the sixth edition of the RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards, sponsored by Vista Technology Support, Scala, CADS, 3D Cloud, Brightpearl by Sage’s Lightning 50, Business France, and Retail Technology Show 2025, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended last month’s gathering.