DFS Furniture appoints Ian Durant as chairman

DFS Furniture has appointed Ian Durant - the current chairman of bakery chain Greggs - as chairman, taking over from Richard Baker from 2 May.

Durant, who is also chairman at Capital and Counties Properties, has held non-executive directorships at Home Retail Group, where he was chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee, and Greene King, where he was chairman of the Audit Committee and senior independent director.

He has more than 35 years of experience in retail and logistics, and has an established financial background. Durant has held senior executive financial positions at a broad range of FTSE 250 companies, with notable roles including finance director at Liberty International and group finance director at Thistle Hotels.

Chief executive officer Ian Filby said: "I am delighted to welcome Ian to the DFS board as chairman. His wealth of relevant experience will help drive us forward and continue the progression from being a great British business to a world-class business."

At 0900 BST, the shares were down 0.2% to 272p.