Former Sainsbury’s CEO King to join M&S

Former Sainsbury’s boss Justin King is to join the board of Marks & Spencer as the retailer undergoes the next phase of its transformation plan.

His appointment as a nonexecutive director completes a reshuffle of M&S’ top team, which has seen four new appointments to the board in the last year.

The retailer is undergoing an upheaval as it closes several stores, streamlines its corporate structure and ramps up its digital operations.

M&S chief executive Steve Rowe said King’s “experience, wisdom and insight” would be helpful as the retailer faces up to fresh challenges.

King was chief executive of Sainsbury’s for ten years until 2014, and is credited with reviving the supermarket. He was previously at M&S, where he headed its food division, helping to pioneer the Simply Food format.

He said: “I look forward to joining the board and supporting Steve in the turnaround that he is leading.”