Outgoing Waitrose boss Mark Price is to join the Government as Trade and Investment Minister, it has been anounced.
The supermarket chief executive will replace Lord Maude, the veteran Conservative who is ending a three-decade-plus frontbench career in mid-March.
Mr Price has been made a life peer and will take up the role in April. He will serve both the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and the Foreign Office.
The announcement of his departure last year came amid speculation he was being lined up to become the interim chairman of Channel 4 but that role went to easyJet deputy chairman Charles Gurassa.
During the weeks between Lord Maude's retirement and his arrival, the role will be filled by Foreign Office Minister Baroness Anelay of St Johns.
In his resignation letter, Lord Maude, who was made a life peer by David Cameron after standing down as an MP at the 2015 general election, said he had at that time "made it clear that I did not want to stay in government for much longer".
His ministerial career began in the 1980s under Margaret Thatcher and he served as a minister under both John Major and Mr Cameron, including posts in the Foreign Office, the Treasury and the Cabinet Office and a spell as party chairman.
He said work he had begun in his new role to boost the UK's "flagging export performance" would take several years.
"I now want to move on and it is a good moment for my successor to take on this task of implementation," he told the PM.
In his reply, Mr Cameron said it was "difficult to adequately pay tribute to such a substantial political career" that had "left a legacy to be enormously proud of - and one that will stand the test of time".
"Above all, you have always been a good, candid friend, and a tremendously loyal colleague. You have supported me through thick and thin from the very beginning - and that is something I will not forget."
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