Stuart Alan Ransom Rose, Baron Rose of Monewden, Kt (born 17 March 1949) is a British businessman and

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

, who was the executive chairman of

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

until 2010, remaining as chairman until early 2011. He was knighted in 2008 for his services to the retail industry and created a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

life peer on 17 September 2014, taking the title Baron Rose of Monewden, of Monewden in the

County of Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. Rose was chairman of online retailer Ocado from 2013 to July 2020. He has been chairman of

Asda Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of Yorks ...

since 2021. In October 2015, he was appointed chair of Britain Stronger in Europe, the official remain campaign in the 2016 referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union.

Early life

Rose's grandparents were White Russian émigrés who fled to China after the 1917 revolution. Their son (later named Harry Ransom-Rose) was unofficially adopted by Nona Ransom, a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

from Bedford who served as English tutor to (among others) Empress Wanrong (the last Empress of China), and Shunryu Suzuki (the Japanese monk who later established the first Zen monastery outside East Asia). It was Nona who transported Harry, Stuart Rose's father, to safety in England as war loomed. The original family name was Bryantzeff, which Rose's father, ex- RAF and civil servant, changed. His mother's side is English, Scottish and Greek. The young family lived in a caravan in Warwickshire until Rose senior obtained a posting with the Imperial Civil Service in Tanganyika (now

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

). Rose went to the Roman Catholic St Joseph's Convent School in Dar es Salaam until he was 11. When he was 13 years old his family returned to England and his parents sent him to

Bootham School Bootham School is an independent Quaker boarding school, on Bootham in the city of York in England. It accepts boys and girls ages 3–19, and had an enrolment of 605 pupils in 2016. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The scho ...

, an independent Quaker boarding school in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...

. His first job was as an administration assistant at the BBC.

Career

Rose first joined

in 1972, as a management trainee. Rose remained with Marks & Spencer until 1989, when he joined the Burton Group as Chief Executive in 1994. The Burton Group demerged, forming the Arcadia and

Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish ...

businesses. In 1997, he joined Argos as Chief Executive, where he was charged with defending the company against a takeover bid from the home shopping giant, Great Universal Stores (GUS). Ultimately, GUS did succeed in taking control of Argos, although Rose was praised for negotiating an increased price for the retailer. In a turbulent time in its history, Rose became the Chief Executive of

Booker plc Booker Group Limited is a British food wholesale operator and subsidiary of Tesco. In January 2017, it was announced that the British multinational supermarket retailer Tesco had agreed to purchase the company for £3.7 billion. It was confirm ...

, where he oversaw the merger of the company with

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

to form the

Big Food Group The Big Food Group was a food retail and wholesale company based in the UK. It was created in 2000 when the supermarket chain Iceland merged with Booker Cash & Carry plc Booker Group Limited is a British food wholesale operator and subsid ...

. Rose joined the

Arcadia Group Arcadia Group Ltd (formerly Arcadia Group plc and, until 1998, Burton Group plc) was a British multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England. It was best known for being the previous parent company of British Home Stores (B ...

in 2000 as Chief Executive and left in 2002 following its acquisition. Rose turned around the fortunes of the

, and sold the group for over £800m, netting himself around £25m as part of the deal. Rose received an Honorary Doctorate from

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted uni ...

in 2007. He was appointed to the position of Chief Executive of

in May 2004 at the age of 56 and subsequently fought off takeover bids by

Philip Green Sir Philip Nigel Ross Green (born 15 March 1952) is a British businessman who was the chairman of the retail company the Arcadia Group. He owned the high street clothing retailers Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge from 2002 to 2020. As ...

for the Group. For this role he was paid an annual salary of £1,130,000. In January 2007, he was named the "2006 Business Leader of the Year" by the World Leadership Forum for his efforts in restoring the fortunes of Marks & Spencer. He was knighted in the

2008 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and ...

for services to the retail industry and to corporate social responsibility, and was appointed chairman of Business in the Community on 1 January 2008. In 2008, Rose became executive chairman of Marks & Spencer. However, in the light of a recent profits warning, which sparked an unprecedented thirty per cent-plus plunge in the company's shares, this appointment caused some concern to many shareholders. Nevertheless, they voted to re-appoint him at their annual meeting on 9 July 2008. He stepped down as chief executive in May 2010, as executive chairman in July 2010, and as chairman in January 2011 following the appointment of Robert Swannell. On 19 January 2011, Rose was appointed as a non-executive director of Woolworths Holdings Ltd, a large South African retail group listed on the

Johannesburg Stock Exchange JSE Limited (previously the JSE Securities Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange) is the largest stock exchange in Africa. It is located in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, after it moved from downtown Johannesburg in 2000. In 2003 ...

. On 6 September 2012, Rose was appointed as non-executive chairman of Dressipi.com, an online personalised fashion service that matches clothes and accessories to a shopper's shape, style and individual preferences. In 2013, Rose became an independent non-executive director and chairman of Ocado, the UK internet-only grocery retailer. He was recruited to advise the government on turning around failing hospitals, asked to examine how to improve the organisational culture in under-performing hospitals and ways to recruit talent from inside and outside the NHS in February 2014. In

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, Rose was created a

and took a seat on the Conservative benches in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...

. In October 2015, Rose was appointed chair of Britain Stronger in Europe, the official remain campaign in the 2016 referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union. After stating to a select committee in March 2016 that wages would go up should Britain leave the European Union, his public role was allegedly limited for the rest of the campaign. In 2019, Rose dismissed calls for a second referendum, stating that he 'believes in a democratic process', despite being a Remainer. In 2015 Rose became Chairman of Time Out Market, owned by Time Out Group. On 14 July 2020, Rose stepped down from his role as chairman of Ocado. As of 2020 Rose chaired privately held businesses including Dressipi, an online fashion start-up, and Zenith, a vehicle-leasing and fleet management company. On 21 January 2021, Rose was appointed non-executive chairman of EG Group. On 23 November 2021, Rose was appointed chairman of Asda as its first dedicated chairman in more than 20 years.

Personal life

His mother, who had a history of depression, committed suicide at the age of 49 by taking an overdose combined with alcohol when Rose was 26 years old. Rose lives in Central London and

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include L ...

. He married Jennifer Cook in 1973 in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it m ...

. They had one son and one daughter. After they separated, Rose lived with fashion writer

Kate Reardon Kate Reardon (born 1968 in New York City, US) is a British journalist and author who was the editor of ''Tatler'' magazine from 2011 until resigning in December 2017. Early life Reardon was born in New York to architect Patrick Reardon. She att ...

. Then, after separating from Reardon in 2009, and stepping down from his positions at M&S, Rose and Cook divorced in 2010. On 16 July 2010, Rose was given an honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ( ...

(LL.D) from the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, the same university from which his son graduated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, Stuart 1949 births British retail chief executives People educated at Bootham School English businesspeople in fashion English businesspeople in retailing English people of Greek descent English chief executives English people of Russian descent English people of Scottish descent Knights Bachelor Living people People from Gosport Conservative Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II People associated with Heriot-Watt University People associated with the University of Leeds