Holland & Barrett veteran Simon Wallbank takes on Head of Product And Data role at Selfridges
Selfridges has appointed Simon Wallbank as Head of Product & Data. He joins from Holland & Barrett where he spent almost eight years, holding a number of roles during that time, most recently Vice President of Product (Commercial, Supply Chain and Seller Experience).
In a LinkedIn post, he said: “After seven years at Holland & Barrett, it was genuinely difficult to say goodbye. I joined at a time when the business was beginning a huge transformation, and I've had the privilege of building a team from the ground up, developing talent and solving some pretty complicated problems...More importantly, I've had the chance to work with some truly brilliant human beings, being part of a team all looking to make peoples quality of life better - amazing brand and i loved every minute.”
He added: “To everyone at H&B who have been part of that journey - thank you. I'm incredibly proud of what we achieved together and will always be grateful for the people, experiences and memories I've taken from my time there.”
“And now, Selfridges. There are some interesting parallels between the two businesses. Both are iconic British brands with huge histories and incredibly loyal customers, and both are navigating how to take that heritage forward while evolving how they serve and engage with their customers. That feels like a pretty exciting challenge... There is a lot to do, and I'm under no illusion that it will be easy. But that's exactly what attracted me to it.”
Wallbank concluded: “I'm looking forward to getting stuck in, meeting the teams, understanding the problems and working out where we can make the biggest difference for our customers, colleagues and the business. Harry Gordon Selfridge once said: “The room for improvement is still the biggest room in the world”. I think that's a pretty good philosophy to take into any new job. New chapter. Same obsession with making things better. Let's see what we can do.”
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Customer engagement 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.
