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Ingenuity, the complete commerce business of THG plc, has appointed technology and payments entrepreneur Alistair Crane as its first chairman to support plans to accelerate growth in core markets including the US.
Crane, who joined THG on 2 January, is currently chief executive of digital career coaching business Bloom, has extensive experience working with brands and a proven track record in founding, scaling and exiting e-commerce businesses in the UK and US over a 20-year career.
Before Bloom, he founded Grapple, a developer of mobile apps for brands acquired by Monitise, and HERO, a social shopping platform bought by Klarna in 2021.
His appointment supports the next stage in Ingenuity’s development following its pivot towards more complex, higher-margin enterprise clients, which gathered pace in 2023.
As chairman, he will support Ingenuity’s senior leadership team, using his experience and contacts to help scale the Ingenuity business in the US. Ingenuity’s complete commerce solution, which offers a one stop-shop to brands spanning technology, marketing and operations, is targeting further expansion in the US.
Ingenuity will seek further major enterprise partners in core categories including nutrition, wellness, prestige beauty, retail and food and beverage with its complete commerce solution under its growth plans. Its current partnerships include L’Oreal, Matalan and Asda.
Regarding his appointment, Crane said: “Ingenuity is a great business with a superb end-to-end offer across digital marketing, technology and operations so there is a real chance to seize a bigger share of the market. There are major opportunities to grow the business and I’m really looking forward to supporting [the senior leadership team] in taking Ingenuity to the next level.”
Matt Moulding, chief executive of THG Plc, said: “I’d like to welcome Alistair to Ingenuity and the wider THG business and we’re looking forward to benefiting from his drive and experience. He has spent his career building digital brands and scaling high-growth businesses, so he is the perfect candidate to help Ingenuity expand across core markets.”
