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* John Lewis CFO Helen Weir to join M&S in same role
* John Lewis says expects Weir to work 6 months notice
* Weir to join M&S with annual salary of 590,000 stg (Adds detail, background)
LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - British retailer Marks & Spencer on Monday poached John Lewis' chief financialofficer Helen Weir to be its new head of finance.
Weir, 52, will succeed Alan Stewart, who quit M&S in July tojoin Britain's biggest retailer Tesco, as chief financeofficer on a date to be confirmed.
Weir has been CFO at John Lewis since 2012 and is also aformer finance director at both Lloyds Banking Group and home improvement retailer Kingfisher.
Confirming her resignation, John Lewis said it expected Weirto work her six month notice period. A spokesman for M&Sdeclined to say if the firm would press for her earlier release.
M&S said she would receive a basic annual salary of 590,000pounds ($923,114) along with standard benefits commensurate withher position.
Weir will also receive a one-off payment of 188,500 poundsto compensate for the differential in contractual pension thatshe is forfeiting to join M&S.
The retailer said a further award for 2014-15 annual bonusforegone may also be taken into consideration.
Since July, Paul Friston, executive assistant to M&S chiefexecutive Marc Bolland, has been M&S's interim CFO but was not acandidate for the permanent position.
Earlier this month, M&S reported its first rise infirst-half profit for four years and raised its profit marginguidance for the full year.
Shares in M&S closed up 0.9 percent at 472.9 pence, valuingthe business at 7.8 billion pounds.
(1 US dollar = 0.6391 British pound) (Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Neil Maidment and MarkPotter)
