Holland & Barrett appoints Starbucks' VP for Technology Mark Fabes as CIO

Health food retail chain Holland & Barrett has poached Starbucks' Vice President for Technology to fill their newly-created role of Chief Information Officer.

Mark Fabes will be tasked with making Holland & Barrett experts at using data from its website and loyalty scheme to help drive customer, brand and business insights.

Fabes, who spent nearly two years at Starbucks, is the first major appointment made by Holland & Barrett since it was bought by Russian investment firm L1 Retail for £1.8bn in June.

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Having been UK IT Director at McDonald's for nearly six years, Fabes has been an expert in the IT industry for the past 30 years.

A position as European IT Manager at Converse in 1990 kickstarted his career, enjoying seven fruitful years before moving on to Allders where he held the post of Head of IT.

In May 2005, Fabes joined Whitbread Group - owner of Costa Coffee, Premier Inn and Beefeater Grill - as Director of Business Support Systems, operating across supply chain, finance and HR.

Fabes was then responsible for Starbucks' strategy for 2,500 stores across 39 different countries in the EMEA region during his 22-month spell as VP of Technology.