THG Ingenuity Appoints Gemma Spence as CEO

8 September 2026 – MANCHESTER, UK – THG Ingenuity today announces the appointment of Gemma Spence as Chief Executive Officer, effective December 2026. Gemma joins THG Ingenuity as it enters its next phase of growth as a proprietary commerce operating system, combining platform technology, automation and robotics to power global ecommerce.

Gemma is a CEO, global commerce leader and business builder with over 17 years’ experience at the intersection of technology, commerce and growth. She became one of the youngest CEOs within Omnicom, where she founded and scaled its ecommerce consultancy across EMEA, supporting some of the world's largest brands. Her career also includes client-side experience, giving her the relatively rare perspective of having bought, built and scaled commerce solutions from both sides of the table.

Gemma has worked with some of the world’s leading brands across commerce, marketplaces, retail media, data, and technology. Most recently, she served as CEO and Country Manager for VML and WPP Luxembourg, leading its Marketplace and Amazon Centre of Excellence.

Gemma holds an Executive MBA with Distinction from the University of Oxford and has received industry recognition including Aviva Women of the Future 2022, Management Today’s 35 Women Under 35, CIO Magazine’s 20 Businesswomen of 2021, and was shortlisted for Mediatel’s Future Media Leader of the Year 2021.

Gemma’s appointment comes as the commerce industry moves beyond connected technology towards agentic, and ultimately autonomous commerce, where AI does not simply provide insight but increasingly makes and executes decisions. Across THG Fulfil, THG Commerce and THG Studios, THG Ingenuity spans content production, commerce technology, marketplaces, fulfilment, automation and robotics capabilities, built by operators for operators through the direct experience of scaling some of the world’s most ambitious brands.

Commenting on her appointment, Gemma said: “Having spent 17+ years in this industry, what excites me the most is the exceptional talent, the operator-led capabilities and the speed of this organisation. Ideas move incredibly quickly from concept to scaled capability. By connecting these through a common decision layer, the opportunity is enormous. That’s the future of commerce, and very few businesses are as well positioned to build and own it as THG Ingenuity.”

As part of the leadership transitions, John Gallemore will move into the role of Chairman. Commenting on Gemma’s appointment, John said: “THG Ingenuity was built to scale the world’s most ambitious ecommerce businesses, using data-led technology, automation and robotics to solve the practical challenges of operating at scale. The next phase will be about making these platforms operate faster, smarter and more connected than ever. Gemma brings extensive experience of building commerce businesses, and a clear understanding of what brands need to grow. Her track record speaks for itself, and I’m confident she will lead THG Ingenuity in its next phase of growth.”

Completing the leadership transitions, Alistair Crane will become a Strategic Consultant for THG Ingenuity.  Commenting on his appointment as Strategic Consultant, Alistair said: “I look forward to continuing to work closely with THG Ingenuity, identifying new opportunities for the business and seeing how it develops even smarter solutions through data, analytics and AI.”