Former Marks & Spencer boss Lord Stuart Rose is to spearhead a cross-party campaign for the UK to stay in the European Union.

Former Marks & Spencer boss Lord Stuart Rose is to spearhead a cross-part campaign for the UK to stay in the European Union.

The Tory peer has been unveiled as chairman of the In Campaign, which officially launches its bid today.

Lord Rose said the UK was “stronger in Europe” and a vote to leave the EU would represent a “leap into the unknown”.

Lord Rose added: “The choice in the coming referendum is between remaining stronger, safer and better off inside Europe, or taking a leap into the unknown, risking our prosperity, threatening our safety, and diminishing our influence in the world.”

Executive director of the In Campaign Will Straw said Lord Rose would bring “unparalleled experience” of business to the campaign.

He added: “He knows the value that Britain’s membership of the EU brings to businesses right across the UK, and what would be at risk if we left.”

Lord Rose’s appointment has been revealed after Prime Minister David Cameron promised to hold a referendum on Britain’s EU membership by the end of 2017. A group of Conservative, Labour and UKIP MPs launched their Vote Leave campaign to take the UK out of the EU last week, as both campaigns prepare to go head-to-head in the build-up to the vote.

It comes after Cameron held talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday. He stated that he wanted to keep the UK in “a reformed” EU.

According to the BBC, a Downing Street spokesman said those talks were “progressing well” but there was “much to be worked through in order to find a solution”.