Why transformation at M&S never really ends

When Stuart Machin describes a typical morning as CEO of Marks & Spencer, it reads less like a schedule and more like a case study in intensity. At the 2026 Business Leader Summit, he described a day in the life at the helm of a FTSE100 company.

By 7am, he has analysed a competitor’s results, written to his investor relations team and drafted a blog on apprenticeships. Before 10am, he has already visited a store, interviewed a colleague and responded to customers.

It is a pace that reflects his broader philosophy on leadership, one that challenges conventional thinking around balance and detachment. “I don’t like all this talk about work-life balance,” he says. “What I don’t like is leaders going away and being completely switched off.”

Instead, Machin frames leadership as a continuous responsibility. While he acknowledges the need for time away, he expects leaders to remain connected and accountable. That mindset is rooted in a deeper belief: that building and transforming a business requires total engagement.

At M&S, that challenge is significant. A 140-year-old brand with deep customer trust, the company also carries the weight of legacy systems, ageing infrastructure and years of underinvestment. Machin summarises the task simply: “protect the magic of M&S, but modernise the rest.”

The “magic”, he argues, lies in product, quality and innovation, the elements that built the brand’s reputation over decades. But everything around it, from stores and supply chains to technology, requires reinvention.

That creates a tension many businesses face: how to run day-to-day operations while transforming for the future. “How do you run the company day to day and at the same time transform the business for the future?” he asks.

Machin’s answer starts with leadership. Since becoming CEO, he has reshaped the senior team, focusing on individuals who combine strategic thinking with operational detail. His preference is for “sleeves rolled up” leaders, people who are curious, hands-on and willing to challenge themselves.

This is reinforced through a culture he describes as “positive dissatisfaction”. Leaders are encouraged to present the “unvarnished truth”, focusing on problems rather than successes. “Every day we’re failing at something and every day we’re winning at something,” he says.

Machin also places heavy emphasis on proximity to customers. He personally reads feedback, responds to complaints and spends time in stores, but he’s baked in an incentive for the store support team to stay in touch with what happens on the ground.

“We put a program in place two years ago where I asked everyone in the store support centre to work in a store for seven days a year,” he explains. “You actually can't pass your appraisal for the year if you haven't done so, but importantly, you have to demonstrate you've also changed something.”

This view of favouring a hands-on approach across the business extends to decision-making too. In a fast-moving environment, Machin prioritises speed over perfection. “Quicker decision-making, sometimes it’s intuition and gut feel,” he says.

Yet transformation is rarely smooth. The past year, he admits, has been one of the most challenging of his tenure, shaped by external pressures and internal disruption. Resilience, in this context, becomes as important as strategy.

Ultimately, Machin sees transformation not as a project with an endpoint, but as a permanent state. “If I’m chief executive for 10 years or 25, I think we’re always going to be transforming,” he says.

It is a view that reflects the reality of modern business. Success is no longer about reaching stability, but about maintaining momentum, even when the work is never truly finished.