Britain's biggest clothing retailer Marks & Spencer says its director of clothing will quit after a bigger-than-expected fall in third-quarter sales.
Mr David Norgrove's departure, which had been widely tipped, came as Marks & Spencer reported a disappointing Christmas trading season, after sales of clothing and homeware products remained under pressure.
Group-wide like-for-like sales in the seven weeks to January 10 were 2.3 per cent lower than a year earlier, with the decline in homeware down 4 per cent.
The company says it has already begun the search for a new director of clothing.
It also warned staff that its fund for performance-related bonuses would be significantly below last year.
M&S said the fall in clothing sales - down 3 per cent - was due to a weak performance in certain key womenswear areas, in particular knitwear, coats and suits.
It conceded that some of its ranges had not been strong enough while the warmer weather also had an impact. Stronger sales growth was seen in the per una and casualwear ranges.
The company said that with non-food sales below plan, it had put less stock than last year into its January sale.
Conditions were also tough for the food operation with like-for-like sales ahead 0.5 per cent after an "adequate" performance. M&S said it had managed to hold market share over the period.
The disappointing figures will come as a blow to the group after it had shown signs of a recovery in its performance in the last 18 months.