In an announcement to the London Stock Exchange, the estate agency giant said his appointment was part of the group’s ‘turnaround strategy’.
Most recently, Marsh oversaw the four-year-recovery of Tesco. He joined Tesco in 2015 after the supermarket chain reported a record loss of £6.4bn. Tesco’s latest financial update reported profits of £494m.
Before Tesco, Marsh spent seven years at Kingfisher, parent company of B&Q and Screwfix, as group strategy director and managing director of Kingfisher Future Homes.
He will be joining Countrywide following several years of huge losses.
Countrywide described last year as a ‘year of reset’, after posting a loss of £218.2m. In 2017, the group made a £207.3m loss.
In the statement, the firm said succession planning was a key area for the board.
Peter Long, executive chairman of Countrywide, said: “Bruce brings valuable management experience and a proven track record that will assist the company’s turnaround strategy, and his appointment will complement and strengthen the executive team both now and for the future.”
The former chief executive Alison Platt resigned in January 2018 after issuing a second profit warning in a three-month period. Her successor has still to be appointed.
Platt said she had worked hard in a difficult market to reshape a fragmented business ready for success.
