Helen Milford will join from Sainsbury’s Argos in May as retail director responsible for all M&S stores and will bring with her a wealth of experience in-store management that has also included long spells with Boots and Asda.

Milford’s route into the retail sector was via a degree in pharmacy, which saw her land a job as a pharmacist with Boots in 1988. Three years later she moved into store management before leaving Boots in 1999 to join Asda as a store manager.

During 12 years with the grocer, Milford climbed the ranks via roles in internal communications and customer service to ultimately head up Asda’s stores in the south of England. She joined Argos as stores director in 2016 before assuming her current role as director of retail in 2018.