Irish supermarket chain Superquinn has appointed James Wilson as trading director.

His recruitment is a morale boost for the 22-store chain, following the recent resignation of its managing director, Dominic Galvin after just eight months in the post.

Wilson joins Superquinn, which is now owned by an Irish business consortium, Select Holdings, from the Musgrave group, where he held a similar position before quitting earlier this year.

He started his career at Procter & Gamble and later joined Asda, where he spent four years in buying before becoming a business unit director. In that role, he was responsible for integrating Asda into the Wal-Mart global buying network. Five years ago he moved to the Musgrave group as trading director.

In joining Superquinn, Wilson becomes the second former Musgrave executive to defect to the competition. Eoin McGettigan, the former head of Musgrave's UK operations, now works for Dunnes Stores as director of food.

In his new role Wilson will be responsible for buying, supply chain and marketing.

Superquinn chairman Simon Burke said that Wilson would have "an immediate and positive impact in Superquinn."