Dotcom queen approached by Selfridges
Martha Lane Fox courted by department store group
December 29 2003
Martha Lane Fox has been asked to take a senior role at Wittington Investments, owner of Selfridges, according to reports.
The 30-year-old Lastminute.com founder has been approached by Galen Weston, new owner of the department store group, following her decision to leave the online ticket business she helped set up five years ago.
Lane Fox steps down as chief executive of Lastminute this week but will remain a non-executive director.
It is not clear what role Lane Fox would take at Wittington. A spokesman for Selfridges told the Daily Telegraoh newspaper: “The operational management of Selfridges, led by chief executive Peter Williams, will remain in place.”
Weston’s approach to Lane Fox is said to have come through former Asda chief executive and Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton. A ‘serial director’ with a wide network of contacts, Leighton heads the board at Lastminute and is a director of several companies in which Weston has a stake.
Reports suggest that Lane Fox will be employed by Wittington, a Weston family holding company, and could oversee a number of the family’s retail interests, which also include London stores Heals and Fortnum and Mason, and Brown Thomas in Dublin.
