Business Transformation Lead Laura Sharp departs British home furnishings retailer Dunelm

Laura Sharp has left Dunelm where she held the role of Business Transformation Lead.

In a LinkedIn post, in which she did not reveal her next move, she said: "After two and a half years, today (Friday, 27th March) is my final day at Dunelm."

"Some highlights include: Built Induction processes in People, supported tech projects in Store Ops, defined and documented processes in Finance and got stuck into people transformation in the Reward and Transformation teams; Supported and co-led the Pride Network; Helped to recruit multiple cohorts of business transformation graduates; Developed new ways of working, created new knowledge, helped launch pilot schemes, made too many process maps to count and drank a alot of Pausa coffee."

She added: "Most importantly, I'm privileged to have made genuine connections with some of the most talented and hard working people I know. During my time here I've grown my technical and project management skills, but I'm most proud of my growth in confidence thanks to the excellent people around me.”

“To my friends at Dunelm - thank you for letting me learn from you, laugh with you and grow my mind in new and different ways. Now for a short break while I prepare for the next chapter in April."

Clo Moriarty

Last year, Dunelm Group announced the appointment of Clodagh ("Clo") Moriarty as Chief Executive Officer.

She succeeds Nick Wilkinson who informed the board of his intention to retire from Dunelm and full-time executive life, following seven years in the role.

Moriarty was previously the Chief Retail and Technology Officer at Sainsbury's. As a member of the operating board, she held responsibility for all stores and their operations, alongside Sainsbury's digital offer and strategy, customer experience and end to end technology platforms.

She was with the business for 15 years, holding a variety of leadership roles, having previously worked for nine years at Bain & Company.

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

Store operations will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.

Check out our 2025 winners here.

Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”

“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”

He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.