UK – Paul Myners, the former chairman of Gartmore who wrote a report on institutional investment for the government, has been named interim chairman of Marks & Spencer as it fends off a takeover bid.

“Paul Myners will assume the role of interim chairman until a permanent appointment is made,” the company said in a statement. Myners, 54, joined the M&S board in 2002 as a non-executive director. His influential report was published in 2000.

Myners also chairs the Guardian Media Group and Aspen Insurance and is a non-executive director of the Bank of New York and mmO2. He takes over from Luc Vandevelde as part of a series of management changes. The company is facing a 10 billion-pound (15 billion-euro) takeover approach from retail tycoon Philip Green.

Stuart Rose takes over as chief executive from Roger Holmes. “The board is very pleased to have somebody of Stuart's experience and retail prowess to lead the company into the next phase of its strategic development,” Myners said.

“The board is grateful to Luc and Roger for putting in place many of the building blocks for the sustained recovery and growth of the business."

Rose said: “Marks & Spencer is a great company with a great history and a great reputation. I know the business well having spent the first 17 years of my retailing career with the company.”

Earlier this year the firm hired Lynn Collins from Syngenta as head of corporate pensions. And it issued bonds to fund a 400 million-pound (600 million-euro) injection into its 2.6 billion-pound UK defined benefit pension scheme.

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