Hayley Tatum MBE has been roped in to play chief people officer, Marks and Spencer, starting October 2025. Before this, she was associated with Asda for over 14 years.
Tatum, who has a master’s degree in human resource management from Middlesex University, worked with Tesco for 12 years, from 1988 to 2000. She climbed up the ranks from wage clerk to staff trainer, to store personnel manager. She held various roles at the regional and support centres and the head office during her tenure, dabbling in manpower planning, learning and development, as well as central operations.
She switched to travel retail in 2000 by joining Heathrow, taking on the role of director-learning and academies for World Duty Free.
Hayley Tatum was back with Tesco in 2002, as human resources director-Extra Format. Three years into this role, she was elevated to stores director-Extra (hypermarket format).
In January of 2007, she was elevated to personnel director, UK & Ireland operations. In this people-leadership role, she was accountable for more than 2,500 stores and over 2,20,000 employees.
After a nine-year long second stint at Tesco, Hayley Tatum moved to the Department of Work and Pensions, as non-executive director.
In August of 2011 she began her long association with Asda, joining as the ExCo member leading people, working for the CEO as one of six executive board members of Asda, within Walmart’s International division.
After serving as chief people officer for over nine years, she was elevated to chief people and corporate affairs officer (under private equity ownership).
She has been executive statutory director at Asda Financial Services for over 13 years now.
At M&S, Hayley Tatum will take over from Sarah Findlater, who has been with the company for over 27 years. Findlater had joined as a humble HR business partner way back in 1998. She had climbed up the ranks to reach the position of group people director by 2022.
Announcing the new CPO, Stuart Machin, CEO, M&S, posted on social media mentioning Tatum’s “very hands-on and collaborative leadership style, crafted through her many roles over the years in HR and store operations”. Machin is looking forward to working with Tatum and says “ We have lots to do in the years ahead to transform M&S and become even more close to our customers and colleagues”.
Hayley Tatum herself feels “thrilled and proud to have been asked to join M&S”. “After spending my entire career in retail, to be joining the most trusted brand in the UK is a real ‘pinch me’ moment,” she says on LinkedIn, as she looks forward to beginning “my induction in October, learning and serving alongside the team”.