Karren Brady, vice chair of West Ham United football club, is to join the board of Arcadia, it has been reported.

She will be the first female board director at Arcadia, Sir Philip Green’s clothing retailer, which includes stores such as Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins and Burton. She will become non-executive director in September it is understood.

Brady, currently starring in the BBC’s Junior Apprentice, is expected to step down from the board of babywear retailer Mothercare to join Arcadia.

Separately Topshop is testing the Canadian market with the opening of a shop-in-shop in Toronto later this month, according to reports.

It will open a shop-in-shop in the Jonathan + Olivia boutique which is extending by 80 sq metres to house the Topshop collection.