Marc Bolland

Marc Bolland
Born28 March 1959 (1959-03-28) (age 65)
Apeldoorn, Amsterdam, Netherlands
EducationUniversity of Groningen
OccupationBusinessman
Years active1987–present
TitleCOO of Heineken (2005–2006)
CEO of Morrisons (2006–2009)
CEO of Marks & Spencer (2010–2016)
Senior Managing Director of Blackstone (2016-2021)
Chairman of Blackstone Group International Partners (2020-present)

Marc Bolland (born 28 March 1959) is a Dutch businessman, who was the CEO of Marks & Spencer, after having been CEO of UK supermarket company Morrisons.

Biography

Early life

He received a bachelor's degree from the Hotelschool The Hague, and then an MBA at the University of Groningen.[1]

Heineken

He began as a graduate at Amsterdam-based Heineken International NV, the third largest brewer in the world, in 1987. Bolland worked in various international management positions in Africa and Central Europe before joining the Heineken board in 2001. He became chief operating officer in 2005.[2] Bolland has been credited with both building and rolling out the Heineken brand internationally.[3][4]

Morrisons

In September 2006, he was appointed CEO of the UK supermarket chain Morrisons. Morrisons had acquired Safeway in 2004 creating a 130,000 people strong retail conglomerate in the UK. The merger initially proved unsuccessful. Bolland joined after five profit warnings with a brief to turn round the company.[5]

By 2008, Morrisons had achieved strong growth in both market share and profits, and in 2008, Bolland was announced as The Times' "Businessman of the year".[6][7] Under his guidance, Morrisons "...gained significant market share from rivals".[8]

Marks & Spencer

In November 2009, it was announced that Bolland would become CEO of Marks & Spencer Group PLC. In May 2010, he took over from the then chairman and CEO Sir Stuart Rose. Bolland launched a plan to grow M&S into an international multi-channel retailer.[5] The Evening Standard named Bolland as one of "London's 1000 most influential people" for 2010.[9]

During September 2011, he announced a new look store environment for M&S's UK stores, with a plan to complete the roll out to the entire UK estate by mid-2013. In 2011, M&S returned to France after a 10-year absence and also started the development of a new digital platform that was launched in February 2014.[10]

In 2011, Bolland received an honorary doctorate from York St John University.[11] He was named as "Most Admired Leader" at Management Today magazine's "Britain's Most Admired Companies 2011" awards having been nominated by his peers in the FTSE 100.[12]

In 2014, Bolland was appointed as the Prince of Wales National Ambassador for Business in the Community.

In January 2016, it was announced that Bolland would be retiring as CEO of Marks and Spencer effective April 2016, and would be replaced by Steve Rowe.[13][14]

Blackstone

In September 2016, Bolland joined Blackstone as Senior Managing Director and Head of European Portfolio Operations for its Private Equity business.[15][16] He subsequently was appointed Chairman of Blackstone Group International Partners (BGIP) in 2020.[17]

Founder of Charitable Innovations

In 2012, Bolland founded “Movement to Work”[18] in response to the Croydon riots. The Charity was set up to give disadvantaged young people (with disabilities, no education, ex-offenders etc) an opportunity of a work placement and work. Bolland set up the Charity’s structure and was Chairman for 5 years. By the end of 2021, Movement to Work has given over 137,000 work placements to the unemployed and more than 75,000 have found a permanent job, apprenticeship or returned to education.[19]

In 2016, during the Syria crisis, Bolland in his role as Vice President UNICEF UK[20] visited refugee camps in Jordan to better understand the delivery of education to refugees. Subsequent to the visit, Bolland developed an innovative digital education concept for refugee children, and children with limited access to education, to which he brought UNICEF and Cambridge University. The concept has been further developed in partnership with Microsoft, and has become “The Learning Passport”,[21] which has been used by 1.5 million children and was nominated as one of the top 100 innovations of 2021 by Time Magazine.[22]

Other activities

References

  1. ^ "WM Morrison chief executive Marc Bolland on how he has transformed the supermarket chain". The Daily Telegraph. London. July 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  2. ^ "Marc J. Bolland Profile - Forbes.com". 7 April 2010. Archived from the original on 7 April 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  3. ^ Woodward, Richard (8 June 2006). "Bolland to refresh parts of Morrisons". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  4. ^ "Speaker: Marc Bolland". Business for Social Responsibility. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  5. ^ a b Teather, David (18 November 2009). "High-flying Dutchman makes it to the top". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  6. ^ "Dossiers – Marc Bolland". World of CEOs. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  7. ^ Martin, Sean (20 May 2014). "Has Marks & Spencer Boss Marc Bolland Failed in his Turnaround Plan?". International Business Times. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  8. ^ Lagorce, Aude (18 November 2009). "M&S appoints Morrison boss Marc Bolland CEO". Market Watch. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  9. ^ "London's 1000 most influential people 2010: Tycoons & Retailers". Evening Standard. London. 15 November 2010. Archived from the original on 3 March 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  10. ^ Dan Milmo and Marie Winckler, Kim Willsher (1 April 2011). "Marks & Spencer makes Paris comeback with Champs Elysées store". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  11. ^ "Honorary Graduates 2011 | York St John". Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  12. ^ Burn-Callander, Rebecca (1 December 2011). "Britain's Most Admired Companies 2011". Management Today. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  13. ^ "Marks and Spencer chief executive Marc Bolland to quit". BBC. 7 January 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  14. ^ "Marc Bolland – Marks & Spencer – oud CEO". managementscope.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Blackstone appoints Marc Bolland as Head of European Portfolio Operations". Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  16. ^ "Marc Bolland wordt partner bij Blackstone". mena.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  17. ^ "Marc Bolland Chairman BGIP". Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  18. ^ "Marc Bolland - Founder of Movement to Work". Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  19. ^ "Movement to Work placements". Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  20. ^ "Bolland Vice President UNICEF UK". Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  21. ^ "Development of the Learning Passport" (PDF). 5 July 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  22. ^ "Best Innovations of 2021". 10 November 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  23. ^ "The Royal Collection Trust Trustees". Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  24. ^ "Board of Directors: Marc Bolland". The Coca-Cola Company. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  25. ^ Board of Directors Exor.
  26. ^ "Bolland Flies in to British Airways Owner IAG".
  27. ^ "Directorate Change – RNS – London Stock Exchange". londonstockexchange.com.
  28. ^ Gordon, Jamie (21 July 2020). "Polymateria receives £15m boost for roll-out of its Biotransformation technology". UK Investor Magazine. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  29. ^ Souris, Simon (17 July 2020). "Frédéric de Mévius embarque dans l'aventure zéro-plastique" [Frédéric de Mévius embarks on the zero-plastic adventure]. L'Echo (in French). Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  30. ^ "Bolland Vice President UNICEF UK". Retrieved 8 June 2022.

External links

  • Morrisons profile
  • Heineken
Business positions
Preceded by CEO of Morrisons
2006–2009 		Succeeded by
Ian Gibson (temporary)
Preceded by CEO of Marks & Spencer
2010–2016 		Succeeded by
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