HIGH street giant Marks & Spencer boss Marc Bolland will retire in April following six often turbulent years at the helm after the retailer posted a dire Christmas performance from its womenswear division.
He'll be replaced by the head of the chain's general merchandise business Steve Rowe, who has worked at M&S for more than 25 years and who will take the post on an annual salary of £810,000, plus benefits and bonuses.
Details of the change at the top came as M&S revealed like-for-like sales in its general merchandise arm, which includes clothing, slumped by 5.8 per cent in the 13 weeks to December 26. The weak figures were blamed on unusually mild weather and poor stock availability.
Mr Bolland said it had been "a huge honour to lead one of Britain's most iconic companies".
He added: "I am delighted to hand over to Steve Rowe. I have worked closely with Steve for six years and am convinced he will be a great leader for Marks & Spencer."
The announcement comes after further woes in the group's troubled clothing division, with Mr Bolland admitting the performance over the festive season was "disappointing".
The fall in like-for-like sales, which followed a 1.9 per cent drop in the previous three months, came as the group resisted pressure to discount early despite widespread sales launched on the high street ahead of Christmas as mild weather hit demand for winter clothing.
There was better news from the chain's food halls, as it hailed its "best ever Christmas", with a 0.4 per cent rise in like-for-like sales over the quarter to December 26 against challenging conditions in the sector.
Mr Bolland said he was ready for the "next stage" in his life, but remained tight-lipped on future plans except to say he will continue on the board of Coca-Cola and as vice-president of children's charity Unicef.
He said: "It is a great privilege to be appointed CEO of Marks & Spencer and to have the opportunity to lead this unique company and all its people forward."
Retail expert Clive Black at Shore Capital said: "Mr Bolland, a distinguished commercial statesman, has done a lot of very good work to fundamentally modernise and reposition M&S to be fit for the future in sustainably challenging markets.
"His successor from April, the excellent Steve Rowe, has a much stronger platform with which to take the business forward than Mr Bolland inherited."
But he said the performance by M&S's general merchandise business over the Christmas quarter was "demonstrably disappointing" and weaker even than rival Next, which shocked the market earlier this week with a fall in festive store sales and sharp slowdown in its Directory catalogue and online arm.
