Marks & Spencer has hired a new retail director, Retail Week can reveal.
M&S has appointed Thinus Keeve to the role, which is newly created.
He has formerly held several senior roles at Australian retailer Coles, where M&S chief executive Stuart Machin and food boss Alex Freudmann also previously worked.
In his new post, Keeve will be in charge of the stores in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, as well as central store operations.
Keeve will report to operations director Sacha Berendji, who will continue to have overall accountability for retail, property, security and business continuity, as well as for the acceleration of M&S’ store rotation programme, which is central to its growth strategy.
Keeve will spend his first month at M&S working in stores to get to know staff, customers and the business. He joins in early June and in July, he will become a member of the retailer’s executive team.
Keeve joins M&S following a strong set of full-year results and as the retailer seeks to normalise operations following a disruptive cyber attack that has led to the suspension of online trading.
However, the retailer is racing to get on the front foot again. It has today revealed the acquisition of 12 former Homebase premises where it will open new food stores.
It is hoped the M&S website will be fully operational again by early July.
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