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Retiring House of Fraser IT boss not being replaced
Latest fashion in retail?

By Julian Goldsmith

Published: Wednesday 01 August 2007

The IT director of the department store chain House of Fraser has retired, and the retailer has confirmed it currently has no plans to appoint anyone to that role.

Frank Berridge, the retailer's IT director, has left to begin his retirement and, according to sources close to the company, Berridge's two immediate reports - director of systems development Mike Hiscock and head of computer services Duncan Gray - will now report to the CFO, Stefan Cassar.

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House of Fraser confirmed there are no plans to reappoint an IT director for the company in the foreseeable future but did not comment on the reasons why.

It is understood House of Fraser has reached a stage in its IT strategy where the major IT implementations have been completed and there are few new projects of any size in the pipeline.

House of Fraser's decision not to replace Berridge could be a sign retail sector CFOs are taking on more responsibility for their company IT strategy.

At John Lewis, for example, the department store arm of John Lewis Partnership (JLP), the role of director of computing services, which focuses on systems shared by all JLP divisions, now reports directly to the group CFO, Marisa Cassoni, although divisional IT directors still report to their respective boards.

Cathy Holley, partner at executive headhunting company Boyden UK said some retailers are no longer willing to spend money on 'C'-level wages for their IT departments.

She said: "I think retailers are sitting in two camps. There are companies like Sainsbury's who bring in big heavy-hitters like [director of European strategy] Angela Morrison. They hire top people because they are not just looking at driving out cost but looking at technology to deliver the exciting future of retail. Then you have the boards who simply don't get it and they try to bring in cheap senior IT people or hunt around internally."