Alannah Elizabeth Weston (born 8 January 1972) is the former chair of the Selfridges Group.

Background

Weston was born in Dublin, Ireland in January 1972. She is the elder child of billionaires

Hilary Weston Hilary Mary Weston ( Frayne; born January 12, 1942) is an Irish–Canadian businesswoman and writer who served as the 26th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1997 to 2002. During her five-year tenure, Weston focused on issues related to wome ...

and

Galen Weston Willard Gordon Galen Weston (October 29, 1940April 12, 2021) was a British-Canadian billionaire businessman and Chairman Emeritus of George Weston Limited, a Canadian food processing and distribution company. Weston and his family, with an esti ...

. She has one sibling, younger brother

Galen Weston Jr. Willard Galen Garfield Weston (born December 19, 1972), known as Galen Weston Jr. or Galen G. Weston, is an Irish-Canadian businessman and a member of the prominent Weston family. He serves as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Georg ...

Weston is a citizen of both Ireland and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. She is married to Alex Cochrane (an architect and the elder son of Sir Marc Cochrane, 4th Baronet), with whom she has two children. Weston lives with her family in London.

Career

Weston studied English literature at Merton College, Oxford. After graduation, she worked as a journalist at

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

Tatler ''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...

, and

British Vogue British ''Vogue'' is a British fashion magazine published based in London since autumn 1916. It is the British edition of the American magazine ''Vogue'' and is owned and distributed by Condé Montrose Nast. British ''Vogue'' editor in 2012 c ...

. She left journalism in 1999 to work for

Rose Marie Bravo Rose Marie Bravo (born Rose Marie La Pila January 13, 1951 in the Bronx, New York) is an American businesswoman. During her career, she has occupied leadership positions in several major fashion businesses and is now vice chairman at Burberry, of ...

at luxury fashion brand

Burberry Burberry is a British luxury fashion house established in 1856 by Thomas Burberry headquartered in London, England. It currently designs and distributes ready to wear, including trench coats (for which it is most famous), leather accessorie ...

, where she was head of press. In 2001, Weston left Burberry to establish her own design agency, Zephyr Projects. In 2004, Weston became

creative director A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridg ...

department store in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. She was appointed deputy chair of the Selfridges Group in 2014 and joined the board of directors of

George Weston Limited George Weston Limited, often referred to as Weston or Weston's, is a Canadian food processing and distribution company. Founded by George Weston in 1882, the company today consists of Weston Foods, a wholly owned subsidiary, and Loblaw Compani ...

in 2016. She became the chair of the Selfridges Group in 2019. As a member of the

Weston family The Weston family is a prominent Canadian-origin family of businesspeople with global interests primarily in food and clothing ventures. The family operations began with the purchase of a bakery in 1884 by American-born Canadian George Weston in ...

, she was ranked tenth on the 2021 ''Sunday Times'' Rich List. Weston is estimated to have a personal wealth of approximately €11 billion. In August 2022, Weston stepped down as Chairman of Selfridges Group upon the sale of the group to Thai conglomerate Central Group and Austria's

Signa Holding Signa Holding GmbH (stylized as SIGNA) is Austria’s largest privately owned real estate company. Signa was founded in 2000 by the Tyrolean entrepreneur René Benko. Over the years, it has become a pan-European real estate group with more than ...

Philanthropy

From 2012 to 2017, Weston was a director of the

Blue Marine Foundation Blue Marine Foundation (stylized as BLUE) is a marine conservation organisation. It was founded as a legacy project following the 2009 documentary film ''The End of the Line''. It has been involved in establishing marine reserves in the Chagos A ...

, a British marine conservation charity. She leads the Selfridges Group Foundation and is a

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to ...

of the

Garfield Weston Foundation The Garfield Weston Foundation is a grant-giving charity based in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1958 by Canadian businessman W. Garfield Weston (1898–1978), who during his lifetime contributed to numerous humanitarian causes, both ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weston, Alannah Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Living people 1972 births People from County Dublin