Beales appoints buying and merchandise director
Hilary Santell joins department store group
Beales has appointed Hilary Santell as its buying and merchandise director.
She replaces Tim Rathbone, who left the regional department store group in August.
Santell has held senior buying and merchandising positions in Burton Menswear and Principles and in 1991 she became senior buying and merchandise controller for Top Shop. She then moved to House of Fraser as director of buying for menswear and childrenswear, followed by a stint as womenswear product director at Next.
In 1998 she became a main board director of Marchpole Holdings, licensee for Yves Saint Laurent. She joined Littlewoods Home Shopping in 2002 and is currently clothing and footwear trading director for LX Direct and LX Direct.com.
Allan Allkins, Beale chief executive, said: “Hilary’s considerable experience of womenswear and retail makes her particularly well qualified to continue to develop and improve our product range.
“With her expertise and guidance I am confident that Beales will continue to meet our customers expectations and I look forward to welcoming her to the board.”
