House of Fraser hires former government digital head

Department store House of Fraser has appointed the Ministry of Justice’s former head of digital Mark Madden as it looks to bolster its omnichannel offering.

Madden joined the retailer this month in the newly created position of director of digital products, where he is responsible for the department store group’s digital product, project and customer experience. He will report into chief customer officer Andy Harding, while head of multichannel business development Sarah Baillie will now report into Madden.

At the Ministry of Justice Madden held the role of digital service director, prior to that he held various roles at TalkTalk, Boots, British Gas and Sky.

The appointment comes as House of Fraser reported earlier this year that it would “significantly increase” its investment in multichannel on the back of strong performance from its online arm, which was reportedly the retailer’s most profitable channel this year accounting for 15.4 percent of total sales.