LONDON (Reuters) - British retailer Marks & Spencer (L:MKS) on Monday poached John Lewis' (JLP.UL) chief financial officer Helen Weir to be its new head of finance.
Weir, 52, will succeed Alan Stewart, who quit M&S in July to join Britain's biggest retailer Tesco (L:TSCO), as chief finance officer on a date to be confirmed.
Weir has been CFO at John Lewis since 2012 and is also a former finance director at both Lloyds Banking Group (L:LLOY) and home improvement retailer Kingfisher (L:KGF).
Confirming her resignation, John Lewis said it expected Weir to work her six month notice period. A spokesman for M&S declined to say if the firm would press for her earlier release.
M&S said she would receive a basic annual salary of 590,000 pounds along with standard benefits commensurate with her position.
Weir will also receive a one-off payment of 188,500 pounds to compensate for the differential in contractual pension that she is forfeiting to join M&S.
The retailer said a further award for 2014-15 annual bonus foregone may also be taken into consideration.
Since July, Paul Friston, executive assistant to M&S chief executive Marc Bolland, has been M&S's interim CFO but was not a candidate for the permanent position.
Earlier this month, M&S reported its first rise in first-half profit for four years and raised its profit margin guidance for the full year.
Shares in M&S closed up 0.9 percent at 472.9 pence, valuing the business at 7.8 billion pounds.
(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Neil Maidment and Mark Potter)