Marks & Spencer co-CEO Bickerstaffe to step down, Sky News reports

British clothing and food retailer Marks & Spencer‘s co-CEO Katie Bickerstaffe is leaving the company and handing over the sole reins to Stuart Machin, Sky News reported on Wednesday.

Bickerstaffe will leave the company this year, the report said, adding that she would join as a non-executive director of European home improvement retailer Kingfisher., opens new 

Marks & Spencer did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the report while Kingfisher declined to comment.

Katie Bickerstaffe and Stuart Machin became co-CEOs of Marks & Spencer in 2022 after Steve Rowe stepped down.

Machin took the responsibility for day-to-day leadership of the business and the executive committee while Bickerstaffe’s focus was on driving the company’s strategy of selling across multiple platforms.

Bickerstaffe’s reported exit comes after the retailer reported a better-than-expected rise in sales over the Christmas trading period, reaping the rewards of investments to improve the value and quality of its clothing and food as well as the overhaul its store estate.