Marks & Spencer appoints Jeremy Townsend as interim CFO

Marks and Spencer has appointed Jeremy Townsend as interim chief financial officer.

Townsend will join the retailer on 22 November and will report into chief executive officer Stuart Machin.

Machin said: "I am very pleased to welcome Jeremy to our leadership team. Over the last three years we have built a strong finance team, and Jeremy will be an excellent addition, bringing with him a wealth of financial leadership experience, as we accelerate our plans to reshape M&S for growth."

Townsend has held senior financial and non-executive roles across several public companies and most recently, was group CFO of Rentokil Initial.

Outgoing CFO Eoin Tonge, who is leaving to become finance director at Associated British Foods, will step down from the board on 9 December and will leave the business on 19 January.