Laura Wade-Gery will take up her role as Marks & Spencer’s multichannel ecommerce director on July 4.

The former Tesco.com chief executive was poached by Marks & Spencer in February but no start date had been agreed then.

Wade-Gery’s hiring was seen as a coup for Marks & Spencer, which aims to build its multichannel capacity at home and internationally - the retailer will re-enter France later this year using a bricks-and-clicks model.

Marks & Spencer chief executive Marc Bolland said last November, as he unveiled his strategy for the retailer, that he intends to increase multichannel sales to betwen £800m and £1bn 2013/14.