Marks & Spencer appoints BA boss to board

Sean Doyle, who also chairs the airline, will join the Marks & Spencer board as a non-executive director at the start of December.

The retailer said Doyle’s appointment is “part of a broader programme to refresh the board as M&S embarks on the next phase of the Reshaping for Growth strategy”. His recruitment as a non-executive follows that of former Asda chief executive Roger Burnley and the extension of Archie Norman’s tenure as M&S chair. 

M&S said that as boss of BA, Doyle “also represents an iconic British brand with extraordinary public exposure”, as is the case with it.

Norman said: “We are delighted to have one of the UK’s leading serving chief executives join our board. M&S is the most public of public companies, and Sean will bring great leadership and strong operating skills to M&S as we prepare for the next phase of reshaping.”

Doyle said, “Being the chief executive of Britain’s flag carrier is a very special job, as you are the custodian of a brand which is part of the fabric of the country. Not many brands can equal that, but M&S certainly can. I am privileged to be joining a board focused on ‘protecting the magic’ of the brand as it modernises the business.”