• Tahir will replace Fiona Firth in his new role
  • Tahir is the second menswear hire River Island has made this year
  • He joined the fashion retailer from Tesco, where he had been employed since March 2014

River Island has snapped up Tesco’s head of menswear Nicholas Tahir as its head of menswear buying in a bid to expand its proposition.

The fashion retailer’s appointment of Tahir comes amid an ongoing drive to expand its menswear division after it hired Adrian Arbuthnot as menswear design manager in February.

Tahir joins the fashion retailer from Tesco, where he acted as head of its global menswear division for F&F since March 2014. Prior to joining Tesco he was buying controller at Primark and has also held senior buying positions at TK Maxx and Burton.

Tahir will replace Fiona Firth, who left River Island in March to join Net-a-Porter menswear arm Mr Porter.

“I’m very looking forward to implementing the new global strategy and harnessing the true potential of River Island’s menswear, cementing our position as designer of the high street,” said Tahir.

River Island launched an exercise line in April to further diversify its offer.