Next’s group marketing director exits after 40 years

Next has announced that its group marketing director is set to retire after 40 years with the company.

Jane Shields, who holds the role of group sales, marketing and HR director, will retire from the company in May, and will step down from the Next board on 21 May 2026.

Matt Barnes, the group’s current online customer service director, will be promoted to the role of group sales and marketing director. His operational remit will cover e-commerce, brand marketing, retail stores and online customer services.

Barnes will not be joining the board. He joined the business in 1999, with his previous roles including head of customer services and credit, risk and fraud manager.

Shields joined Next in 1985 as a sales assistant in a London store, and worked her way up to store management before being promoted to sales director in 1999, responsible for all store operations and training.

In 2006, she was given additional responsibility for retail marketing, and was appointed group sales and marketing director in 2010, also including online marketing and the Directory.

In August 2020, she assumed responsibility for human resources and the customer service contact centre, and was appointed to the board of directors back in 2013.

Cautious marketing spend

As a retailer, Next is cautious with its marketing spend. Though it recently credited “profitable” marketing investment with driving a 38.3% increase in international sales, it is readying to halve its international marketing spend in 2026.

This is despite Next CEO Lord Simon Wolfson telling Marketing Week on the publication of the retailer’s first half results in September that the success of online and international sales has given the business a “much larger runway for growth”.

Up until now, Next has been increasing “profitable marketing expenditure” in its international markets. During Q3 alone, Next increased international marketing spend by 50% – double the previous guidance – as it hailed the success of “profitable digital marketing”.

Yet in its festive results earlier this week, it admitted it is “unlikely” the business will profitably increase marketing investment by as much next year. Next’s overseas marketing spend is now expected to increase by around 25%.

The results also highlighted that Next’s full price sales rose 10.6% versus the year prior, beating the predicted 7% rise, and that it is increasing its annual profit forecast by £15m to £1.15bn – a 13.7% increase versus last year.

In March last year, Wolfson told Marketing Week the business would never reduce marketing spend in the UK to increase investment overseas.

In its Q3 results in October, he also explained that marketing budget is not a fixed sum and investment will “carefully increase” as long as returns remain above its hurdle rate. The business currently looks to generate at least £1.50 of incremental profit for every £1 spent on marketing.

Next has also claimed in the past to be looking more closely at digital marketing through partnerships with the likes of Google, Meta and TikTok.