Leasing and fleet management provider Zenith has appointed Lord Rose as its chairman.

Lord Rose has more than 40 years’ experience in the consumer and retail sectors, during which time he served as chief executive at Argos, Booker, Arcadia Group and Marks and Spencer.

He was chairman of Marks and Spencer from 2008 to 2011. He was knighted in 2008 for services to the retail industry and corporate social responsibility and granted a life peerage in August 2014.

Lord Rose's current business interests include being charman of both online supermarket Ocado and active lifestyle retailer Fat Face.

He is also a non-executive director of Woolworths Holdings in South Africa. He is also a member of Bridgepoint’s advisory board.

Tim Buchan, chief executive officer of Zenith, said: “I'm delighted that Stuart is joining Zenith as our chairman.

"He's had a fantastic business career and has unparalleled experience in understanding the consumer, all of which will be important to the future development of our company.” 

Lord Rose said: “I am impressed by Zenith’s growth story: the UK fleet services market is a large, growing and resilient market so we will all have even more to go for. I very much look forward to working with the team."

Zenith was acquired in 2017 by the European private equity group Bridgepoint in a transaction totalling £750 million. 

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