Stephen Joseph Rowe (born July 1967) is a British businessman and former CEO 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 ...

from April 2016 to 2022.

Early life

Stephen Joseph Rowe was born in July 1967. He is from

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

. His father, Joe Rowe also worked for M&S, where he was head of food, and a main board director.

Career

Rowe has spent almost his entire career at Marks & Spencer, starting in Croydon working on Saturdays, aged 15. Aged 18, Rowe joined Topshop as a trainee, and soon became a store manager, but returned to M&S, "frustrated with the lack of career development at the company". On 7 January 2016 it was announced that

Marc Bolland Marc Bolland (born 28 March 1959) is a Dutch businessman, who was the CEO of Marks & Spencer, after having been CEO of UK supermarket company Morrisons. Biography Early life He received a bachelor's degree from the Hotelschool The Hague, and t ...

, who was CEO since 2010 would step down on 2 April 2016, and be replaced by Rowe, who was then head of clothing, and had previously been head of the food business. On 2 April 2016, he became the CEO of M&S. In March 2022 it was announced that Rowe would step down as CEO being replaced by COO Stuart Machin. Rowe officially left the company in July 2022 after 37 years. He was awarded a final £1.6 million pay package.

Personal life

Rowe is a "diehard Millwall fan". He lives in Purley.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowe, Steve Living people 1967 births People from Croydon British retail chief executives English businesspeople in retailing Marks & Spencer people