Oak Furniture Land appoints chief marketing officer
Oak Furniture Land has appointed Ruth Harrison-Wood as its chief marketing officer.
Harrison-Wood will lead Oak Furniture Land’s growth plans which include expanding in the UK and entering the US market. The company will open 10 new UK stores before the end of the year and an average of one a month in 2018. Having already set up an ecommerce website in the US, Oak Furniture Land also plans to open a number of stores in the country in the next 12 to 18 months.
Harrison-Wood explained that her immediate priority will be to help prepare the business for one of the biggest events in the retail calendar. She said: “To start with, I’ll be getting us in great shape for the January sales. I’ll also be analysing our audience segmentation and focusing on really understanding our customers. We’re already looking into perhaps creating a footprint store within one of our new stores, to see how we can develop the best possible shopping journey.”
Harrison-Wood was most recently worldwide group customer and marketing director at National Express and has more than 20 years’ experience leading campaigns, strategic marketing, commercial ventures and business development initiatives in the pharmaceutical, travel, transport sectors, home improvement and retail sectors.
Terry King, chief operating officer of Oak Furniture Land, said: “The role of chief marketing officer spans new product development, merchandising and marketing, and it is therefore integral to customer experience and to the future success of our business. Ruth has a wealth of experience and in-store customer journey knowledge, so this appointment will move us far closer to the Oak Furniture Land customer and their needs during what is set to be a rapid period of growth for the company.”
