New M&S clothing boss Price to arrive in July

Marks & Spencer said Richard Price would arrive from Tesco in July to revive its clothing business almost eight months after his appointment was announced.

The retailer said Price would join on 6 July as managing director of clothing and home, taking over responsibility from group chief executive Steve Rowe.

M&S announced Price's appointment on 22 November but did not give a start date. Price was running Tesco's F&F clothing and homewares label at the time.

Price worked at M&S for seven years before leaving because he was unhappy with the company's direction. He then ran the now-defunct chain BHS before joining Tesco.

M&S has been trying to reestablish its clothing business as a market leader for many years. Rowe hired former Halfords and McDonald's UK boss Jill McDonald to shake things up but she was sacked in summer 2019 after stocks of in-demand items ran out.

Rowe said: "Richard joins us at a crucial time. I am confident that his leadership of a much-strengthened team and track record of delivering growth through great value, stylish product will accelerate the transformation of our clothing and home business and build on the improvements in product, value and availability over the past year."

Under Rowe and Chairman Archie Norman, M&S's latest clothing revamp is designed to broaden its appeal and attract young families. The target market is a similar demographic to Tesco's F&F brand.

M&S, which dropped out of the FTSE 100 for the first time in 2019, said in late April it expected clothing and home to be "severely constrained" during the Covid-19 shutdown and that trading conditions would be highly uncertain when conditions eased.