Apple has announced that John Browett is joining the company as senior vice president of retail, a position previously held by Ron Johnson who left last year to become CEO of JC Penney.

Browett leaves his position of chief executive of Dixons Retail, a role he has been in since 2007, to join the Cupertino tech giant.

In the last year Dixons has seen more than 30 per cent of its value wiped out - around £50m from the FTSE 250 listing, taking it to £500m. First-half losses before tax and one-off items at the group, which owns Currys and PC World, widened to a £25.3 million loss from £6.9 million the year before.

But analysts have been quick to praise Browett, stating that his move to Apple is a result of a job well done at Dixons. Neil Saunders, retail analyst at Conlumino, tweeted: "Can't blame Browett; he's done a great job at Dixons and Apple is too good an opportunity to pass up."

"Our retail stores are all about customer service, and John shares that commitment like no one else we’ve met," said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. "We are thrilled to have him join our team and bring his incredible retail experience to Apple."

Prior to joining Dixons Retail, Browett was CEO of Tesco.com. He'll officially join Apple in April.

Browett isn't the only Brit with a high-level position over at 1 Infinite Loop, of course. Sir Jonathan Ive is head of design at Apple and is the man responsible for the look and feel of the company's most revered products, including the iPad, iPod and iPhone. He was recently awarded a knighthood in the British Queen's New Year Honours List.