Marks & Spencer has poached the executive who designed Morrisons’ convenience stores to run its Simply Food and catering operations.

Chris Taylor will join M&S on May 3, and is the first Morrisons executive to be poached by M&S since Marc Bolland took over as chief executive last May.

Taylor will run M&S’s 360 Simply Food stores and its 335 restaurants and cafes. He will take over his responsibilities from Neil Hyslop, who is moving to become director of space planning and development as part of Bolland’s drive for M&S to make better use of its floorspace.

Miles Foster has taken over the development of Morrisons’ convenience store programme. This morning’s Retail Week reveals that the first Morrisons convenience store will open in the affluent Yorkshire town of Ilkley.