Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King was forced to play down reports over the weekend that he could be preparing to leave the retailer. King, who had led the UK’s third-biggest supermarket since 2004, rubbished claims that he could be in line to replace Bernie Ecclestone as chief executive of Formula One, or Marc Bolland as boss of Marks & Spencer.

Posted by Ava Szajna

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ASOS, the UK’s largest online-only fashion and beauty retailer on Wednesday confirmed the appointment of Kate Bostock as a senior executive director. After officially leaving her role as head of general merchandise at Marks & Spencer on 1 October, Bostock will now join Asos in January as executive director, product and training, reporting to chief executive Nick Robertson.

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HMV saw a sharp 6.3 per cent drop in shares to 3.4p in trading this morning as the troubled retailer confirmed finance director David Wolffe would also leave the business. The news comes less than a week after chief executive Simon Fox announced he would step down from his role last Thursday.

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JJB Sports chief executive Keith Jones will step down from his role following struggling sales and a string of profit warnings for the retailer. The news comes just weeks after new charman, Robert Corliss, was brought in to try and turn the sportswear chain around. According to the Telegraph, it’s thought that Corliss wanted a new chief executive to lead the retailer into a turnaround strategy.

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JD Sports Fashion has refused to comment on reports that Julia Reynolds, chief executive of its outdoor sports retailer Blacks Leisure, is on the way out. The Independent on Wednesday reported that Reynolds could leave the operator of the Blacks and Millets chains in the next few months, suggesting that once Blacks' operations have been fully integrated into the JD Sports group, the role of chief executive to the outdoor retailer would be different.

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Beverley Aspinall has announced she will step down from her position as chief executive of the prestigious department store at the end of May. According to the Independent, Aspinall said she would leave her role at Fortnum & Mason of seven years “to pursue other challenges,” adding that “the time is right to move”.

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Jil Sander has announced Raf Simons will step down from his position as Creative Director at the fashion house after seven years in the role. The news comes just a few hours after reporting that Jil Sander may be returning to her position at her eponymous label set up in 1968.

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The supermarket has parted ways with two more executives as it looks to restructure its retail development unit. Asda’s retail development director Steve Masters, and director of sustainable development, Bob Simpson, will both leave the company as it looks to overhaul the department. Although the property and retail development units is usually one of the best funded in a retailer’s head office, Asda has struggled to find suitable sites in recent years because of a lack of flexibility in the size of its stores.

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The UK’s largest retailer is understood to be looking at closing its stand-alone furnishing chain Home Plus as it looks to focus on its core grocery business. Tesco is thought to be keen to exit leases it holds on all 13 of its Home Plus stores after weak sales at the out-of-town outlets. According to an article in The Times, Tesco and its property advisor Morgan Williams have been reviewing the Home Plus stores for six months, while two branches in Telford and Staines have already been formally marketed.

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Head of marketing strategy Claire Harrison-Church will leave Sainsbury’s in February for unconfirmed reasons. The announcement will come as a blow to the grocer who also revealed its incoming marketing director Mark Horgan has stepped down from his future role due to “personal reasons”. The former MasterCard director was due to start next month, after being confirmed for the position back in August.

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