Belinda Jane Earl (born 20 December 1961) is a British businesswoman, and a non executive director of Woolworths Holdings Limited (RSA) in addition to holding retail advisory and mentor positions. She was style director of Marks and Spencer from 2012 to 2019. In 2003, she became the youngest FTSE 500 retail chief executive.

Biography

Earl was born in Plymouth,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, and attended St Dunstan's Abbey School for Girls. She started working as a Saturday assistant in the menswear department of her local

Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish ...

at the age of 16, and managed a gift shop. Following sixth form studies, she studied economics and business at The University of Wales, Aberystwyth. After graduating in 1983 she started as a graduate trainee at Harrods, and was then appointed to a management position in its fashion division.

Chief executive/director

Debenhams

In 1985, she left Harrods to become a menswear merchandiser at

. She rose to become a company director in 1991. She was appointed trading director and joined the board in 1997. She held responsibilities including womenswear, accessories, lingerie, and designers. After Terry Green resigned in 2000, she was appointed CEO of Debenhams. During her administration the company did well despite an unfavourable economic climate. She became the first chief executive of a

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...

-listed company to take maternity leave with the birth of her second son in 2001. Her planned six weeks' absence made headlines of some national newspapers as a relatively long time for a chief executive to take off work. She was re-elected at annual general meetings up to and including 2003. She left Debenhams in 2003. Her failure that October to secure a buyout of Debenhams by

Permira Permira is a global investment firm. Founded in 1985, the firm advises funds with assets under management of €60+ billion. The Permira funds have made approximately 300 private equity investments in four key sectors: Technology, Consumer, Ser ...

prompted her departure (Debenhams was eventually bought for £1.7 billion by a rival private consortium).

Jaeger

Harold Tillman Harold Tillman CBE (born 15 October 1945) is an English retail entrepreneur and investor. He was formerly head of Jaeger and Aquascutum, who was awarded CBE in 2010. Until September 2014, Tillman was chair of the British Fashion Council. In ...

, a retail entrepreneur, had bought Jaeger in 2002 and had inherited a brand in decline. Earl was initially approached in 2004 and was eventually persuaded to become CEO. Jaeger became a profitable business, growing sales both in retail and online, developed the lines of ''Jaeger London'', ''Boutique by Jaeger'' and ''Jaeger Black'' as well as expanding internationally during her tenure. She left the business in 2011.

Marks and Spencer

Earl joined Marks and Spencer as style director in September 2012. She was appointed Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to retail.

Educational commitments

Earl is a patron of Skillsmart, a retail sector skills council, a fellow of the

City & Guilds The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies – to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has ...

Institute, and a fellow of the

University of Wales , latin_name = , image = , caption = Coat of Arms , motto = cy, Goreu Awen Gwirionedd , mottoeng = The Best Inspiration is Truth , established = , , type = Confederal, non-member ...

Personal life

Earl lives in Surrey, with her husband David, a lawyer, and two sons. Her son, Ben, is an England rugby international.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Earl, Belinda 1961 births Alumni of Aberystwyth University English businesspeople in fashion Marks & Spencer people Living people Officers of the Order of the British Empire Businesspeople from Plymouth, Devon