Gillian Clare McDonald (born 15 May 1964) is a British businesswoman. She has previously been the CEO of

Costa Coffee Costa Coffee is a British coffeehouse chain with headquarters in Dunstable, England. Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by Sergio Costa as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops. ...

, CEO of

Halfords Halfords Group PLC is the UK's largest retailer of motoring and cycling products and services. Through Halfords Autocentre, they provide vehicle servicing, MOT, maintenance and repairs in the United Kingdom. Halfords Group is listed on the Lon ...

, CEO of

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

UK and head of

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

's non-food business, overseeing clothing, home and beauty.

Early life

McDonald was born in May 1964 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, and grew up in

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lon ...

. She was educated at

Sevenoaks School Sevenoaks School is a highly selective coeducational independent school in Sevenoaks, Kent, England. It is the second oldest non-denominational school in the United Kingdom, dating back to 1432, only behind Oswestry (1407). Over 1,000 day pupils ...

and graduated from the

University of Brighton The University of Brighton is a public university based on four campuses in Brighton and Eastbourne on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achieve ...

with a first class degree in business studies.

Career

She began her career as a graduate marketing trainee with Colgate Palmolive. In 1990, she joined

British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered 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 populati ...

as a brand manager, and worked there for 16 years, rising to head of global marketing, before joining McDonald's in 2006. In 2006, she joined McDonald's as chief marketing officer for the UK and northern Europe, and in 2010, was promoted to CEO of McDonald's UK and president of North West Europe. She was appointed to the board of

InterContinental Hotels Group InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), marketed as IHG Hotels & Resorts, is a British multinational hospitality company headquartered in Denham, Buckinghamshire, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the F ...

in 2013. In May 2015, McDonald replaced Matt Davies (who left to join

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

), as CEO of

, on a basic salary of £500,000 plus bonuses. In May 2017, McDonald was announced to be taking over

's non-food business in the autumn, and in her role reported to CEO Steve Rowe. In July 2019, McDonald left Marks & Spencer after failing to secure an uplift in clothing sales, with Rowe assuming responsibility of the clothing and home division. In November 2019, McDonald was named CEO of

, and started on 2 December 2019. On 13 July 2022, Costa Coffee announced that McDonald was stepping down as CEO of the company to join

in an international role.

Personal life

McDonald is married with two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Jill 1964 births Living people People educated at Sevenoaks School Alumni of the University of Brighton British chief executives Women chief executives