Mark Price, the managing director of Waitrose, will become a minister of state at the foreign office when he steps down from the grocery chain in the spring.

Mr Price has been with the John Lewis Partnership for 30 years and has been a strong advocate of the employee-centric business. He will join Lucy Neville-Rolfe, a former Tesco executive, who was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Minister for Intellectual Property.