The former Co-op chief information officer Andy Haywood has joined N Brown as it plans a major systems overhaul.

Haywood, who will sit on the home retailer’s operating board, will remain in the same role as his previous company and will oversee all the brands including Jacamo and Simply Be.

According to the retailer, Haywood will be heading up the major systems project that the business is embarking on which has been designed to “step change its capability”. It will also facilitate simpler processes and help improve the customers shopping experience.

Prior to his role at the Co-op, Haywood was chief information officer at Boots. Haywood has also completed a four year technology transformation and led a business integration programme for the supermarket giant Asda and its parent company Walmart.

Haywood will report directly to N Brown chief executive Angela Spindler.

Angela Spindler said: “Andy is without doubt one of the most respected CIO’s in the market today. He has considerable experience in senior group roles in all aspects of IT and business change across numerous sectors. I feel sure his appointment will underpin our ambition to transform, modernise and grow the business going forward. I am delighted to welcome him to the team.”