She will assumed responsibility for managing the press office function of the business and supporting the promotion of the Wolseley UK brands.

Wolseley UK's parent firm, Wolseley PLC, is refocusing its business after experiencing tough trading conditions in recent times. Last year the FTSE 100 firm pushed through a a £1bn rights issue and shed more than 2,000 jobs after experiencing a half-year operating loss of £880m.

Under new chief exec Ian Meakins, the firm has replaced a number of senior execs and has sold its Irish business and plans to divest its Belgian, Czech and Slovakian operations to focus on core areas, such as its UK arm.

Hanikova herself has almost 30 years' comms experience both in-house and agency and is a former broadcast journalist. She has worked in comms roles at Severn Trent Water, Warwickshire Constabulary and the BBC and as a director at Harrison Cowley PR and country manager for MMD Public Relations in Eastern Europe.