Stars and Stripes at Laura Ashley

The Laura Ashley boardroom took on an even more American look yesterday when the retailer appointed John Thornton, a partner at investment bank Goldman Sachs, as chairman. Americans now occupy the top three positions in the company

Mr Thornton, a Harvard-educated New Yorker and one of the City's top deal-makers, has been recruited by Anne Iverson, the American high flyer who joined the company as chief executive in September. The other US directors are Jim Walsh, finance director and Basha Cohen who is director of design and buying.

Ms Iverson, who has remodelled the board in the last six months, said the director's nationality was irrelevant: "I have been looking for the very best talent for a world-wide brand. The fact that some of them are American is not the issue."

Mr Thornton replaces Lord Hooson, who is retiring in May. He was already a non-executive director of Laura Ashley but his elevation to non-executive chairman represents a coup for the company. Still only 41, he has established himself as one of the best corporate finance brains in the City. A trusted adviser to Rupert Murdoch and a non executive director of BSkyB, he has been involved in some of the largest UK's takeover bids, including Mr Murdoch's acquisition of Star TV and the Pilkington defence against BTR.

He also advised on the Ford takeover of Jaguar and now sits on the Ford board as a non-executive. The son of prosperous lawyer parents, he enjoyed a meteoric rise. At 19 he had a holiday job in Teddy Kennedy's headquarters when he was favourite for the Democratic nomination. In 1979 he left Oxford to take a job at Goldmans. By 1980 was splitting his time between New York and London, He is now based in the UK.