M&S White Rose: Meet the woman behind Leeds' flagship Marks and Spencer megastore

Justine Brook, a seasoned retail professional with over 30 years of service to M&S, is at the helm of one of the retailers biggest stores to-date, a 97,000 sq ft store and brand new digital café design – the first to be rolled out in the UK.

Although the new store opened to customers in May, Justine had been working on the opening for many months prior. In her role as Store Manager for White Rose, she oversaw the recruitment of more than 230 staff members and has been setting out a blueprint for fellow store managers to follow later this year.

She said: said; “Leading the new Leeds White Rose store opening has been an amazing moment for me. M&S started in Leeds where the business was founded in 1884 on a stall in Kirkgate Market. Leeds is also where I got my start at M&S on a youth training scheme in 1986, so it feels like a full circle moment.

“I’ve had so many amazing experiences since then, but I have to say that opening day in Leeds was the proudest day of my career so far.”

Justine is part of a group of six women leading M&S’s five biggest new store openings in 2023, with each member of the formidable team running stores in three of the country’s most popular shopping centres – Leeds White Rose, Manchester’s Trafford Centre, and the Lakeside Centre in Essex.

In addition to her day-to-day role, Justine is also the Co-Chair for the M&S Gender Equality Network and advocates for improved work-life options. She firmly believes in being a role model for her team, and strongly supports the retailer’s worklife policy, a flexible working offering which gives retail managers the option to choose to work a four-day compressed week or a nine-day compressed fortnight.

Adding: “I’ll be using the flexibility to compete with my horse which is one of my passions, but we’re all different and whatever you choose to do, it’s an opportunity to find the right work/life balance for you.”

The M&S store managers have more than 115 years of retail experience between them and will lead a combined team of over 1,000 colleagues.