The latest news from Boohoo Group’s Debenhams business is that Jo Hunt, formerly head of partner brands at ASOS, has arrived as head of business development.

It’s not been officially announced but Hunt shared the news on her LinkedIn profile page, which also says that she “played a significant role in building the ASOS.com third party branded business across Men’s & Women’s”.

She’s been in her new role since February and it’s clearly going o be a big change for the exec as she’s been with ASOS for almost 19 years. She started at the e-tail giant as buyer for women’s brands in summer 2006 and became head of partner brand in September 2013, holding that title until last December. She also became head of asosmarketplace.com in summer 2017, holding that post concurrently with her other duties until November last year.  

Before joining ASOS, she was an assistant buyers at House of Fraser, a job she did for almost six years.

Debenhams is a business Boohoo Group acquired for £55 million in 2021 after it ran into trouble due to the pandemic and filed for administration.

The new owner made it online-only and it has actually turned out to be one of the more successful parts of the Boohoo operation in recent years. Dan Finley, the CEO who turned it around was also promoted to CEO of the entire group following his Debenhams success.

Debenhams has been planning international expansion and late last year another sign of its new-found confidence came as it named insider Patrick Duggan as its new creative director. He’d been the senior head of creative at the online marketplace for almost two years.

M&S continues to grow its ‘Brands at M&S’ fashion and lifestyle portfolio adding Hush and Whistles to its online platform this season. Meanwhile, its part-owned Nobody’s Child brand will also be doubling its in-store footprint to 56 stores.

First, Hush and Whistles will become the first dedicated womenswear brands to launch on the platform this year, continuing its growth to over 100 third-party brands. Hush will join the website from 12 March, followed by the arrival of Whistles in April.

The pair will introduce more than 300 new season womenswear products to M&S.com, including day dresses, trend-forward denim, boho-style blouses, co-ords, outerwear, and a selection of bags, heels and sandals.

The range will also include an exclusive 12-piece collection from Hush, “which offers effortless summer separates and Hush’s best-selling barrel leg jean in leopard print” exclusive to M&S’s website.

As the retailer claims to continue “to drive style perceptions” (+6ppts) while “holding its highest market share in womenswear for years” (10.4%), M&S said womenswear is a top performing category within Brands at M&S, making up 49% of sales in the last 12 months, with sales up 18% vs last year.

The retailer also claims to have welcomed over one million new customers to the platform in the last year.

“Hush and Whistles will bolster the existing offer of stylish womenswear brands and sit alongside Chinti & Parker, Baukjen and Nobody’s Child, which was the first third-partner brand to launch at M&S in 2020, bringing the total number to 26”, M&S said.

Additionally, M&S will be welcoming back Nobody’s Child pop-up shops to stores for the SS25 season. Having seen 100,000 customers shopping the brand in store last year, for 2025, the retailer is expanding its store footprint to a further 28 new locations including Kew, Merry Hill and Braehead. That will bring the total number of M&S stores the brand is available in to 56.

The pop-ups will offer a capsule collection of 40 pieces from Nobody’s Child’s SS25 collection, including a mix of signature dresses, tops, blouses and trousers.

Nishi Mahajan, director of Third-Party Brands, Clothing & Home at M&S, said: “Four years ago we introduced a small selection of third-party womenswear brands to M&S and today, it continues to be our best-performing category.

“We’re continuing to listen and learn from our customers; we know that in womenswear, they want highly credible, fashion-led brands which complement and enhance our core offer at M&S. We’re confident the arrival of Hush and Whistles as well as the return of our Nobody’s Child pop-up shops, will ensure we are the destination for womenswear this season as we continue to drive style perceptions and grow market share.”