Sainsbury has appointed Desmond Taljaard as property director and as a member of the board effective from May 7.

Taljaard joins from the Hilton Group where he is senior vice president, real estate and a member of the Hilton International board.

Sainsbury group chief executive Sir Peter Davis said: “Desmond’s previous experience in a customer focused environment will be of immense value to us as we continue to develop our variety of store formats and our property portfolio valued in excess of £4.5bn.”