Moonpig drafts in Kate Swann as chair

The highly regarded Swann, widely credited for turning around WHSmith during her tenure and most recently chief executive of transport food specialist SSP, arrives at Moonpig as its sales hit £100m, Sky News has reported.

Swann told the broadcaster: “I am delighted to be joining Nickyl [Raithatha, Moonpig chief executive] and the Moonpig team and look forward to working with them to build on the many opportunities the business has.”

Raithatha said the appointment would bring “a wealth of experience in leading successful businesses and a fantastic addition to our new leadership team”.

Swann, who has previously worked at retailers including Homebase and left WHSmith in 2013, is highly rated in the industry.

Since her departure from SSP, which owns brands including Ritazza, was announced there has been frequent speculation about what she might do. She was spoken of as a potential chief executive of DIY giant Kingfisher and chair of John Lewis Partnership.

Moonpig is owned by Exponent Private Equity, which last year added a year Dutch online cards and gifts specialist Greetz to its stable.

Moonpig is part of Photobox Group, which in July said was is streamlining the “internal operations of the group around two autonomous businesses” – Moonpig, along with Greetz, and photo personalisation business Photobox.