Luc Vandevelde, the former chairman of Marks & Spencer, is expected to be appointed as the non-executive chairman of French retailer Carrefour within a month. The appointment will propel Vandevelde into one of the biggest jobs in global retailing, just 10 months after he quit M&S following criticism that he wasn't devoting sufficient time to the high street retailer.

Vandevelde has been on the Carrefour board since 2003 as the representative of the Halley family, which owns 11.5 per cent of the company's shares.