Jo Kenrick will join the home improvement firm as marketing director from mid-August.
Ms Kenrick, who stepped down from her role with B&Q at the start of 2009 following a restructuring of the board, joins Homebase from her current role as ceo of charity initiative Start.

She will replace Ajay Kavan, who left the business earlier in the year. Ms Kenrick said of her new position: "I'm delighted to be joining the team at Homebase - I've always believed that women were the key decision makers in home improvement and this is a business which already has a strong female franchise. There is so much already in place to build on and a great team with which to do it so I'm really looking forward to getting started."

During her time at B&Q, Ms Kenrick was responsible for leading a return to using real employees in the firm's TV adverts, as well as securing the sponsorship of Channel 4's property programming. She is also said to have contributed to a 30% year-on-year increase in sales on B&Q's website diy.com.