Marks & Spencer Group PLC (LON:MKS) has poached Eoin Tonge from Greencore Group PLC (LON:GNC) to be its new chief financial officer.
Tonge will join in June, taking over from interim CFO David Surdeau, who was appointed when Humphrey Singer stood down at the end of December.
READ: Marks & Spencer finance head to depart as retailer loses FTSE 100 spot
Tonge has been CFO of Greencore, the convenience food manufacturer that supplies M&S and other supermarkets, since 2016, having been at the company since 2009.
Prior to that, he worked at Goldman Sachs for eight years in roles across finance, treasury and capital markets.
Chief executive Steve Rowe said Tonge would bring “in-depth knowledge of food, as well as strategy and operations, and is another addition to the very strong management team we are building to transform M&S”.
Tonge said he was excited to “drive forward the transformation of the business, realise its full potential and make it special again”.
His arrival continues wholesale changes to the senior management team under Rowe and chairman Archie Normal in recent years as the retailer struggles with a transformation plan.
Recent appointments include ex-Dixons Carphone director Katie Bickerstaffe as the strategy and transformation director and Richard Price, the former boss of Tesco's F&F clothing brand, as managing director of the Clothing & Home arm, with forthcoming appointments including a new supply chain director joining from Adidas, a new retail director from Argos and a property director from Asda.
House broker Shore Capital said Tonge was “high calibre”.
At Greencore, chief executive Patrick Coveney said he was “a dedicated, professional and loyal” colleague and that he “will miss him greatly”.
“He leaves with our gratitude for his enormous contribution to the group but he also has our very best wishes for the future. We have a strong finance team at Greencore and have already commenced a process to appoint a new CFO.”