Retail 100 2025: Meet three of the most influential women shaping retail

Alison Dolan, chief financial officer, Marks & Spencer

Less than a year into the job, Alison Dolan has been faced with one of M&S’ most significant financial challenges for some time. The retailer estimated that the recent cyber incident will impact group operating profit by around £300m for the 2025/26 financial year. 

Dolan’s extensive experience, including as chief financial officer at Rightmove and senior positions at media businesses including News UK and Sky, will have helped her pivot quickly to come up with a strategy to offset some of that impact. 

She brings a wider skillset than pure business nous. At News UK Dolan was chief strategy officer and closely involved in the company’s digital transformation – experience likely to be valuable at M&S as it recovers and builds its online and digital capabilities. 

Despite the cyber-attack, Dolan joins M&S when its finances are in strong shape, following a successful financial year. Chief executive Stuart Machin has pointed out that the retailer has net funds of more than £400m and is in its “best financial health for nearly 30 years.” 

Rachel Reeves, chancellor of the exchequer

Once Rachel Reeves delivered her divisive Budget last year, her place in the Retail 100 was assured. The chancellor of the exchequer, since July 2024, might be unpopular with retailers, but her impact on the industry is one of the most significant of the past 12 months, and the effects of her Budget could be felt for years to come. 

It would be fair to say there is a general sense of being let down among retailers, many of whom cite Reeves’s policies, including changes to national insurance, as chilling business, when the incoming government had promised to promote growth. 

Many retail leaders said that the Budget exacerbated a challenging cost environment, and some have placed expansion or hiring on hold. Reeves has a tough job, but angered retailers with the lack of time the industry was given to prepare for additional costs. 

In a speech in December 2024, Reeves said: “At the Budget, I wiped the slate clean after 14 years of chaos and mismanagement of our public finances, and I have brought stability back to our economy, so that we can get on with fulfilling our promise of change…while ensuring that working people do not face higher taxes in their payslips.” Whether the Budget achieves what she hopes for will become evident in the coming months and years. 

Julia Goddard, chief executive, Harvey Nichols

Julia Goddard joins the Retail 100 for the first time this year, after less than 12 months in the job. 

Goddard took on the role of chief executive at the company that runs the historic London store after being poached from her longstanding job at fashion house Alexander McQueen. She brought with her a “strong focus on retail excellence,” according to her new employer, and a track record of opening stores in London, Paris, Rome, Milan, Dubai, Kuwait and Qatar. 

Company results published in April for the previous year didn’t paint an encouraging picture of Harvey Nichols at the time that Goddard joined. Revenue fell to £204.87m from £216.64m, and gross profit slipped to £90.4m from £98.4m. That left an operating loss of £27.4m, much bigger than the £15.4m loss the previous year. 

Goddard will be watched closely to see if she can turn Harvey Nichols’ fortunes around. She’s recruited a new creative director and chief merchant, and the team will be focused on how to make a high-end experience attractive to customers during a time when some feel financially stretched. 

In 2025, Goddard has put a renewed impetus on brand identity and customer engagement, as well as financial stability. Experience will be in focus both at stores – with revamped layouts and a more immersive experience created through design changes to shopping areas and restaurants – and online, via a partnership with OSF Digital to build a centralised customer engagement platform for a more omnichannel offering.