M&S clothing chief Price to join Fabacus board

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
May 23, 2023

One of the UK retail’s highest-profile execs — Richard Price, MD of Clothing and Home at M&S — is to join Fabacus, the data management and bureau service for the licensing industry, as a member of its Advisory Board.

The seasoned retail executive joins “at a time when the company’s trajectory continues to gather momentum”. Its blue-chip clients include Fanatics, Epic Games, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard.

Price “brings a wealth of experience” from his time at Next, BHS, Tesco F&F and currently M&S “driving significant share growth and EBIT across clothing, footwear, accessories and homewares”.

Fabacus was founded by entrepreneur Andrew Xeni and his connection to Price comes via his background in retail as founder of fashion brand Nobody’s Child. Having launched at M&S in 2020 as part of the retailer’s third-party brands strategy, Nobody’s Child has since become its top performing partner, with M&S now a strategic minority investor and shareholder. 

Price said: “At a pivotal time for licensing and retail, in light of mandated reporting regulations coming into effect, there is now a need for more visibility and transparency across the sector. Fabacus continues to address the issues head-on through their service, and I look forward to being a part of the evolution that is coming.”

Xeni, added: “With over three decades working for the UK’s biggest retailers, Richard’s appointment to the board brings us invaluable retail experience across all categories and geographies. Increasing data capture and data governance will not only support companies scale but will also accelerate growth – it enables consumers to know more about the items they are buying and the associated supply chain practises. I am thrilled Richard shares our mission to evolve current industry practices and further integrate licensing and retail.”