El Corte Inglés to name Marta Álvarez as new chair

By

Eva Gracia Morales

Translated by
Barbara Santamaria

Published
Jun 25, 2019

Changes are afoot at Spanish retail group El Corte Inglés. Marta Álvarez is set to take over as chair next month and replace Jesús Nuño de la Rosa, who has been in the role just over a year, revealed sources close to the company.

Marta Álvarez is a shareholder and a member of the board of directors. She is also the daughter of former chairman Isidoro Álvarez, who passed away in 2014. Her appointment will be proposed to the board of directors at a meeting in July, according to Spanish newspaper Expansión. The board’s goal is for Álvarez to lead the company’s annual general meeting, which is taking place in August.

If her appointment is confirmed, it will mean that the board of the Spanish department store chain will be once again led by a member of the founding family. El Corte Inglés will then change its corporate structure to have a non-executive chairman and two co-CEOs.

So Jesús Nuño de la Rosa, currently chairman, will become co-CEO alongside Víctor del Pozo and Marta Álvarez will take over as chair. Nuño de la Rosa, who is expected to step down from his role as chairman in July, will be head of the retailer’s non-retail division, whilst Del Pozo will lead the company’s retail area and will be responsible for the store portfolio.

Jesús Nuño de la Rosa was named chairman of El Corte Inglés in June last year after a dispute with former chairman Dimas Gimeno. He has presided over the company during a transitional period that has seen multiple changes, including listing debt in Ireland, and putting up to 95 assets on sale. It also transformed shopping centres such as Arroyosur into leisure and outlet centres.

Marta Álvarez has been in charge of restructuring the women’s fashion brands to create one label called Woman. Together with her sister Cristina, she holds a 60% stake in the business. As new chair of El Corte Inglés, Álvarez will have to lead the company through an expansion process and digital transformation, as the group continues to trim the size of its workforce.