Paperchase’s chief digital officer exits as Tesco acquires brand

Some 75 head office employees have been made redundant, with the full impact on the marketing team yet to be confirmed.

Source: Shutterstock

Chief digital officer and marketer Rhea Fox has left Paperchase, news which comes as Tesco takes over the ailing retailer’s brand.

Tesco acquired the brand and its IP shortly after it went into administration yesterday (31 January), following a difficult few years for Paperchase amid rising costs and declining sales.

However, Tesco will not be taking on Paperchase’s store estate. Administrators at Begbies Traynor plan to keep the stores open and trading in the short term, but have urged customers to redeem any gift cards within the next two weeks.

Some 75 head office employees have been made redundant. Marketing roles are thought to be affected, but this has yet to be officially confirmed.

Fox joined Paperchase in January last year to lead the digital business and a team of 15 across marketing, trading and product. She was previously head of marketing, general insurance at Aviva, where she worked for more than three years. Her background is in insight, having held senior insight and research roles at Ebay, DMG Media and GHD.

Announcing her departure on LinkedIn, Fox wrote: “I’m immensely proud of the work our team did on replatforming Paperchase.com and reforming CRM/performance marketing – driving site-record CTR [click-through rate], AOV [average order value] and conversion.

“For my contacts recruiting ecommerce traders, copywriters and product managers, there are fantastic ex-Paperchasers available. It’s been a privilege to work on a much-loved brand with a very talented team.”

Tesco plans to sell the stationary brand’s products in its stores across the UK. The supermarket’s managing director of home and clothing, Jan Marchant, called Paperchase a “well-loved brand” and said the acquisition will further Tesco’s plans to “bring more brands and inspiration to the ranges we currently offer”.

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