Marks & Spencer in talks with top Dixons Carphone exec to bolster retail expertise

Marks & Spencer is reportedly in talks with a top Dixons Carphone exec as the troubled retailer seeks to shake-up its board.

Katie Bickerstaffe, who recently stepped down as chief executive of Dixons Carphone UK and Ireland, has held discussions about joining M&S as a non-exec director.

M&S is facing the risk of a landmark demotion from the FTSE 100 after more than 30 years in the blue-chip index.

Sources have told Sky News Bickerstaffe will be appointed in the new few weeks. The move forms part of new chairman Archie Norman’s plans to overhaul M&S’ board, in particular adding retail expertise.

Read more: Dixons Carphone UK boss steps down to lead new energy supply business

Bickerstaffe quit Dixons Carphone in April to be the new boss of energy supplier to be created by the proposed merger of SSE’s retail unit and German-owned Npower. She has been an executive director at Dixons Carphone since it was formed in 2014, has also held positions at Kwik Save, Somerfield, Dyson, PepsiCo and Unilever.

Faced with declining consumer confidence, rising costs and disruption from online retailers, M&S is teetering on a demotion from the FTSE 100 when officials recalibrate the index on 30 May. Market capitalisations as at the 29 May will define the new order.

M&S has seen its market value shrink by a fifth over the last year and is now worth £4.8bn. Currently sitting in 102nd place, FTSE Russell’s complicated promotion and demotion structure means that firms placed 110 or lower are automatically relegated. Those outside the top 100 are dependent on newly listed entrants or those which jump up to 90th place or above.

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