Helen Weir may have been among banking group Lloyds’ top brass in the run-up to the financial crash but her appointment at M&S is welcome.

Helen Weir was among banking group Lloyds’ top brass in the run-up to the banking crash.

She was there during the catastrophic takeover of HBOS and last year had to apologise to the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards over the payment protection insurance misselling scandal.

On the face of it, not the most auspicious background for M&S’s new chief financial officer.

But Weir’s appointment has gone down well in the City.

Along with her the experience gained in her present role as finance boss of John Lewis Partnership, she brings retail knowledge gained at DIY giant Kingfisher and its flagship B&Q business.

The banking crisis was systemic, not of Weir’s making.

But that forged-in-the-fire experience means she will bring wide insight and understanding that make her the sort of finance big-hitter appropriate for the M&S role.

Marks & Spencer poaches John Lewis finance chief Helen Weir