Mitch Hughes is director of menswear at M&S. This appointment comes at a crucial time for the business as years of work in its clothing and home operations yield real results, although the recovery remains a potentially fragile one given the weak consumer backdrop at present.

Despite having worked solely online in recent years, Hughes also has extensive physical retail experience, with both being relevant to M&S as it consolidates and improves its physical stores while growing its e-commerce operation.

M&S’ half yearly sales are up 13 per cent. Sales in its clothing and home operation rose 14 per cent, while sales via physical stores up 18.8 per cent and online up 4.9 per cent. It saw growth in both market share and profitability. Full-price sales participation was broadly level on last year and well above the historic average. Market share increased 50bps to 9.1 per cent and it generated growth across categories and channels.

The high-double-digit sales rise through physical stores was driven by stores in city centres and malls, reflecting the return to more normal trading patterns although high streets continued to lag.The rise in online sales meant e-tail made up 32 per cent of clothing and home revenue, with continued strong growth in traffic and increased average order values, partly offset by higher returns rates.