M&S hopes Marc Bolland can live up to reputation

Marks & Spencer's new boss Marc Bolland started his job at the high street giant today.

The former Morrisons chief executive joins M&S on a near-£15 million pay package, taking over from Sir Stuart Rose, who reverted to non-executive chairman until his departure next March.

The markets are hoping the Dutchman can revitalise M&S, which has struggled in the recession.

Bolland led a turnaround of supermarket Morrisons, transforming the group into a competitor to Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda.

He starts at M&S on the front foot, after the firm's most recent trading news revealed far better than expected sales growth in the final quarter of M&S's financial year.

M&S reported same store sales up 5.1% in the 13 weeks to March 27 - the second quarter of growth in a row after the group posted a 0.8% rise for the previous three months, which was the first increase in two years.

It said it was on track for 52-week annual profits of between £620 million to £630 million in the period to March 27, up from £604.4 million the previous year.

Rose overhauled the group in an attempt to halt the sales slide, whilst also sorting out the firm's operations - simplifying suppliers and updating IT systems.

The group's food business, under divisional chief John Dixon, has been making improvements, but the food offering needs to step up efforts to fend off resurgent premium retailer Waitrose, while the clothing arm is also in need of a further boost.

Bolland is expected to outline a strategy update for M&S in the autumn when the company presents its half-year results.