Steve Haithwaite (pictured), previously director of publications at Littlewoods and Shop Direct Group, has joined retail giant Tesco as media publishing director.

His role has been filled by Stephen Clark, who has crossed the floor from print production to print buying to become group publishing director at Littlewoods.

Clark's responsibilities will include all print and repro procurement as well as the running of the group's direct mail and transactional print operation CDMS, which is one of the top 10 direct mail operations in the UK, processing 7% of the 4.2bn consumer mailings per year.

Clark's last role was as managing director of Polestar's Sheffield gravure superplant. He left last October after seven months in the role, having replaced Andrew Jones who lasted just two months. Prior to that Clark was managing director of Poole-based magazine printer Southernprint.

Haithwaite's move to Tesco, and his experience in the catalogue market, which includes a stint at Argos as well as Littlewoods, fuels speculation that the retail giant is planning to launch a print catalogue to boost non-food sales.

A spokeswoman said: "Steve Haithwaite joined Tesco as media publishing director this month. He will be working on a variety of different projects within the company, but it is too early to detail them."

The firm's strategy is to be as strong in non-food retail as it is in food sales.

Chief executive Terry Leahy said in an interview in the Observer last Sunday that the firm was looking at holidays and leisure as further sectors to move into. Both are likely to add to its requirements for printed materials to bolster store and web sales.