M&S's Paul Myners to rejoin Rose

Paul Myners, right, has had a long lasting relationship with Mr Rose

Paul Myners, the former chairman of Marks & Spencer, is to be re-united with M&S chief executive Stuart Rose on the board of another FTSE 100 company.

Leading property firm Land Securities is set to announce that Mr Myners will succeed Peter Birch as its chairman.

Robert Peston, the BBC's business editor, said Mr Myners's appointment will raise smiles in the City.

Mr Myners and Mr Rose became a famous double act when they battled to prevent billionaire Philip Green buying M&S.

As it happens, Mr Rose has been a non-executive director of Land Securities since 2003, the BBC's business editor said.

In fact, it was their closeness which was cited by M&S's other non-executive directors - led by Kevin Lomax, the chairman of Misys - as a reason why Mr Myners should remain chairman of M&S for no more than two years.

The M&S non-executives questioned whether Mr Myners would be able to dismiss Mr Rose in the event that he failed as chief executive - a charge that Mr Myners had always dismissed as nonsense.

In the event, Mr Rose is widely regarded as having performed well, and M&S's share price has soared since he took over.

Longer term

Mr Myners originally became temporary chairman of M&S in May 2004, during the emergency created by Mr Green's attempt to acquire M&S. He did not at the time think that he wanted to become its permanent chairman.

Mr Myners is widely credited with taking the tough decisions - such as forcing out M&S's previous chief executive, Roger Holmes, and bringing in Mr Rose - that enabled M&S to remain independent.

At the beginning of 2005 Mr Myners threw his hat into the ring to take the M&S chairman's job on a permanent basis.

However, Mr Lomax refused to put him on the list - and the dispute exploded into an embarrassing public spat. Mr Rose made clear that he enjoyed working with Mr Myners and was disconcerted by the boardroom tension.

In the end, a compromise was brokered, and Mr Myners stayed as chairman until earlier this month.

He has now been succeeded at M&S by Lord Burns, the former Treasury permanent secretary.