M&S has gone shopping at John Lewis, picking up the Partnership’s finance boss Helen Weir to replace Alan Stewart who decamped to Tesco.

Helen Weir has been named M&S's new finance chief

Weir joins M&S after a two-year tenure at John Lewis. She is a well-regarded executive with almost 20 years of experience across banking and retail.

Weir joined B&Q as finance director in 1995 and was then group finance director of parent Kingfisher from 2000 to 2004.

While in the role, she drew unwelcome headlines for receiving a £334,000 relocation allowance to cover a 40-mile move from a village in Hampshire to a new house in Buckinghamshire.

Commenting on her appointment at M&S, Kingfisher chief executive Ian Cheshire told Retail Week: “I think it’s really good news from M&S’s perspective.

“She’s really experienced and will bring a lot of energy, a lot of sector knowledge. She’s a very high-calibre hire and a very serious player.

“Working as finance director at B&Q she had a very detail-orientated base, with lots of retail experience. Her role at Lloyds was largely retail, so she has a strong level of experience.”

She had been thought to be in the running to lead Kingfisher, but jumped ship for Lloyds Bank in 2004 where she was group finance director.

She was group executive director, retail, at Lloyds from 2008 to 2012.

Weir worked at Lloyds when it was forced to seek a multibillion-pound bailout from taxpayers in 2008, and had to apologise to MPs in 2013 for the mis-selling of payment protection insurance at the bank.

“I acknowledge the mis-selling of PPI across the industry and at Lloyds and apologise wholeheartedly for my part in that,” Weir told the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards.

New direction

It has been a tough few years for M&S, but Weir seems to be joining the retailer at a time of optimism.

Its most recent results suggest it may have turned a corner as profits came in ahead of consensus and there were signs of improvement in the key womenswear category.

Earlier this month the retailer reported a 2.3% rise in underlying pre-tax profits to £268m in the six months to September 27, when group sales increased 1% to £4.9bn.

Kantar Retail insights director Bryan Roberts highlighted how Weir’s experience at John Lewis as its department store arm developed its ecommerce offer will be a boon to M&S.

“From an M&S point of view, she was running the books at John Lewis at a time of huge multichannel development and that’s something that M&S is belatedly accelerating at the moment.

“That experience of organising KPIs or developing online business is a great credential that she will bring to M&S.”

John Lewis said that Weir “is expected to work her six-month notice period,” which means she may not join M&S until May next year.

M&S chief executive Marc Bolland said: “We are delighted to be appointing Helen as chief financial officer.

“She is extremely well-qualified and brings a wealth of relevant financial, retail and consumer experience. We look forward to her joining the M&S team.”

M&S said Weir will receive a basic annual salary of £590,000.

No share awards are being granted in relation to her appointment. However, Weir will receive a one-off payment of £188,500 to compensate for the differential in contractual pension that she is forfeiting to join M&S.

Weir, who is also a non-executive director of SAB Miller, said: “M&S is one of the UK’s great brands. This is an exciting time to be joining the company and I am delighted to be part of the team.”

Helen Weir CV

2012 to 2014 Chief financial officer at John Lewis
2008 to 2012 Promoted to group executive director, retail at Lloyds Bank
2004 to 2008 Group finance director at Lloyds Bank
2000 to 2004 Promoted to group finance director at B&Q parent Kingfisher
1995 to 2000 Appointed finance director at DIY retailer B&Q
1990 to 1995 Consultant at McKinsey & Company
1985 to 1990 MBA at Stanford Business School and then research
1983 to 1985 Joins Unilever as a graduate trainee

 

Marks & Spencer poaches John Lewis finance chief Helen Weir