Stephen Langford talks serious cyber incidents and digital successes as he moves on from Marks and Spencer
Stephen Langford has announced his departure from M&S, where he spent the past six and a half years, most recently serving as Director of Digital, Omnichannel & Partnerships.
In a LinkedIn post, Langford, who has also worked at Walmart and Asda and is currently a Non-Executive Director at Nobody’s Child, said: “And that's a wrap. After six years, I'm saying goodbye to Marks and Spencer - for the second time in my career.”
He added: “When I arrived in 2020, M&S.com sat on the fringes of the business, unloved and under-invested - ageing tech, outdated marketing, minimal profit contribution. Six years on, it's unrecognisable. We rebuilt the foundations, digitally acquired the next generation of M&S shoppers, grew online revenues from £800 million to over £2 billion, and quadrupled profit contribution. It's no longer at the edge of the corporate strategy - it's right at the heart of the M&S growth story.”
“We built brands at Marks and Spencer from a blank sheet, launching Nobody's Child as our first partner in September 2020, and then turned it into a marketplace carrying all the biggest names in retail. Of course it hasn’t all been smooth sailing, not least in 2025 when we experienced a serious cyber incident. We took our digital business offline for seven weeks before painstakingly rebuilding it piece by piece. During this period I saw exactly what this team is made of - determination, resilience, and incredible problem solving.”
Langford said: “My thanks to Archie Norman and many others for putting their trust in me, and to the exceptional colleagues who I had the privilege to lead. The foundations are now laid for David Clark and team to take the transformation of Marks and Spencer to the next level. Twenty five years in retail have taught me one thing: the businesses that win stay close to their customers while being unafraid to reinvent how they serve them. More on what's next for me very soon. For now - thank you, M&S. It's been the privilege of a career.”
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Digital retail 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.
