UK's Homebase shops at Tesco for new boss

LONDON, March 19 (Reuters) - Britain's Home Retail Group on Thursday named Tesco (Xetra: 852647 - news) 's Echo Lu as the new boss of its Homebase home improvement business.

Home Retail (Other OTC: HMRLF - news) , which also owns Argos, said Lu will start at Homebase on April 20. She succeeds Paul Loft whose departure was announced last October.

Lu has been at Tesco for a decade, most recently as group business planning and insight director and property director for Tesco UK & Ireland.

Prior to those positions, she held a number of roles in Tesco's Asian business, including chief operating officer for China.

In October Home Retail said it planned to close a quarter of its 323 Homebase stores by 2018, prioritising the development of its larger and more profitable Argos chain.

John Walden, Home Retail's chief executive, said Lu would focus on improving Homebase's store standards and customer service, develop stronger customer propositions and accelerate its digital capabilities.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in Home Retail were down 0.4 percent at 170.2 pence at 1052 GMT.

(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Sarah Young)