Matalan chief executive Jo Whitfield has stepped down from the fashion retailer after just over 18 months.
The retailer said Whitfield is leaving the business to “pursue a portfolio career”.
Her departure comes as fellow department store John Lewis Partnership lost its group CEO Nish Kankiwala, as he reverts back to non-executive role at the group.
The ex-Co-op Food boss was named CEO of the fashion retailer in March last year, as she returned to Matalan having previously been its head of finance between 2002 and 2008.
Under her helm, the retailer said it made “significant progress” in its turnaround strategy including the reshuffling its top team and re-establishment of its “value credentials”.
Matalan chair Karl-Heinz Holland will act as executive chair until a successor is named, while the search process for Whitfield’s replacement has already kicked off, Retail Week reported.
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Whitfield said: “It has been a fast-paced transformational 18 months and I am proud of everything that the Matalan teams and I have achieved.
“We have reset the business foundations against a very challenging backdrop, have improved profitability in the first year and developed a strategy to take the business forward. We have fundamentally improved our product offering and re-established our reputation for providing great value and quality for customers.
“We have invested in colleague pay and established a new leadership and executive team to take the business forward. Now feels the right time to pass the baton as the next phase of the transformation continues. I am confident that Matalan will continue to thrive and I wish my colleagues and leadership team every success for the future.”
Holland added: “I want to thank Jo for her leadership of Matalan and wish her well for the future. She has led the team that has stabilised the business and, perhaps most importantly, she has put customers and colleagues back at the heart of everything we do.
“Matalan is a business with strong fundamentals and remains on a firm financial and operational footing. The board has every confidence that we will deliver our strategic plan.”
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