M&S head of lingerie and beauty quits amid clothing sales slump

Marks & Spencer's head of lingerie and beauty has stepped down after just three months in the job.

Janie Schaffer, who has previously worked as Chief Creative Officer at Victoria's Secret, was appointed in an effort to overturn the British retailer's slump in clothing sales.

A spokeswoman for M&S confirmed she had left the firm but declined to comment further, according to Sky News.

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Some reports suggest she wanted more creative input at the company.

The news comes a week after the group announced its seventh quarterly fall in underlying sales of clothing, footwear and homewear.

General merchandise, which includes clothes and shoes, fell 2.2% on a like-for-like basis in the 13 weeks to March 30th.

At the time of the report, Chief Executive Marc Bolland said the company was working hard on improving our performance in general merchandise.

However, he said it would improve sales until July on release of autumn and winter collections.

The new general merchandise management team is led by John Dixon, the former boss of M&S's food business, and Belinda Earl, the former chief of Debenhams and Jaeger.

The company also announced it was set to extend its reach to the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium.

RD