Sir Stuart Rose appeared to be enjoying his second honeymoon at Marks & Spencer yesterday as he reaffirmed his love for the high street giant and insisted that he had never thought of leaving.

The chief executive, who has seen the wheels fall off his recovery programme despite once being hailed as the company's messiah, explained that his impending move to executive chairman was the best for all concerned.

Sir Stuart will remain in overall charge until 2011, but the job switch from June 1 will give his four senior lieutenants the “elbow room” to develop their skills and put themselves forward as his successor.

Sir Stuart told The Times: “This is Act 2 of the play, the play goes on. We just have to run the business through what is a dark, stormy night. We have got to have continuation of management and people to get through this economic climate.

“I never said I would go, I never said I would stay. My first concern is the business, I care about this business.

“When we sat down and talked about the options this [move] ]came out as the most logical next step. You look at it and say, 'Does this make sense?' It does.”

The concerns of the corporate governance brigade were dismissed as Sir Stuart played up to his private shareholders. They enjoyed the good times as the M&S share price hit the lofty heights of 750p last year and are now suffering the bad.

Sir Stuart said: “The real issue is that if I was to go it would be hard to identify a successor early. We are having to do what the right thing is for investors - those with the pound notes in their pockets. They will probably welcome this decision.”

He insisted that no gun had been held to the head of Lord Burns, the soon-to-depart chairman, to allow his move upstairs rather than continuing as chief executive. “I don't operate like that,” he said.

Sir Stuart's commitment will be sorely tested during the next three years, a period that could tarnish his reputation for ever or see him walk off into the sunset with M&S back in full health.

Retail analysts are already writing off 2008 given the turmoil on financial markets around the world and the more cautious consumer. Sir Stuart said that he feared the effects of the credit crunch may be felt far longer. “I think this could last through until 2010,” he said.

Some industry experts were surprised by yesterday's announcement. One, who refused to be named, said that he was convinced that Sir Stuart was going to leave in spring 2009, five years after he joined the company to fend off a potential takeover bid from Sir Philip Green, the Bhs-to-Topshop billionaire.

“He must be a masochist to be staying on,” one analyst said.

Sir Stuart sees it differently, reiterating comments made at the interim results last November. “I'd rather be running M&S in a downturn than a lot of other businesses.

"We are making good money, have a clear plan and a very strong product proposition,” he said. “We are in for a tough ride and businesses need experience. If you have guided a ship through a storm before, you know just how far to lower the sail.”

Direct responsibility for the stores and human resources falls to Ian Dyson under the shake-up, but Sir Stuart will still be firmly in charge of “product and people”. He said that it will be business as usual at the Paddington HQ.

Analysts see Sir Stuart's main priority as restoring some of the momentum that has been lost during the past year. Figures out yesterday from Fashiontrak showed that M&S's share of the women's wear market has fallen year on year.

Maureen Hinton, an analyst at Verdict, the retail consultancy, said that M&S had, arguably, focused too much on making sure its value lines were competitive with the likes of Zara, H&M and even Tesco.

Fraser Ramzan, an analyst at Lehman Brothers, added: “You have to hope that the individual operators in the business will feel as great a responsibility to deliver to their new bosses as they did to Sir Stuart Rose. They will no longer be as close to the light as they used to be.”

The Contenders:

Ian Dyson, finance and operations director

A former FD of Rank, the 44-year-old joined the M&S board in June 2005. Has been given responsibility for retail and human resources. Former financial controller of Hilton Group and FD of Forte’s Le Meridien. Early career with Arthur Andersen, with which he qualified as a chartered accountant in 1986 and in which he was made a partner in 1994.

Kate Bostock, executive director, clothing

Ms Bostock, 50, was told by friends in 2004 that she must have been “stark raving mad” to stay with M&S when Sir Philip Green was preparing a bid for the retailer. Now she is a candidate for chief executive. Widely credited with making M&S clothing fashionable again and winning back millions of customers. She made her name at Asda as head of the George brand.

Steven Esom, executive director, food

Former managing director of Waitrose who jumped ship after missing out as chairman of John Lewis Partnership. Joined M&S as director of food in June 2007. Will keep this role, but has been appointed to the board with immediate effect. Worked for Hilton and Sainsbury’s and is a nonexecutive director of Carphone Warehouse.

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