Sir Stuart Rose has quietly paved the way for an early exit from Marks & Spencer. The retailer’s executive chairman, who has been under fire from critics in the City and institutional shareholders, said publicly for the first time last week that he hoped to go before his previously announced departure date.

He said: “It’s quite clear: I said I would extend my tenure at the latest to July 2011. What we said, effectively, was that was to allow us to work out the succession.”

The change of tack was hardly noticed, but originally, M&S had said that Sir Stuart was “committed to stay with the company until the AGM in July 2011, when he will retire”.

Sir Stuart was brought in to fend off a hostile bid for M&S from his friend and rival Sir Philip Green in 2004. He initially intended to step down this year, but in June last year took up a role of combined chairman and chief executive to allow the board to blood the next generation of M&S leadership. The move has not gone according to plan, with institutional investors complaining of the concentration of power in his hands and the departure of heirs-apparent Carl Leaver and Steve Esom.

Privately Sir Stuart has told friends that he would like to step down as soon as he can find a successor. Last week he said that he would depart after a brief handover period. “I will stay there to make sure they know where the lavatories and the seventh floor cafeteria are. Then I will be gone,” he joked.

In a newspaper interview published this weekend, Sir Stuart gave a forthright assessment of the personal challenges he has faced in the past 18 months. These included problems in the office which were “week-in, week-out rows”; the governance issue and the recession as well as matters in his private life.

Sir Stuart admitted that “M&S has completely eaten up my life”, adding that at times it was a greater commitment than he wanted. A renowned workaholic, he hinted that he was scaling back his commitment to M&S. He said: “I’ve always used work as a refuge, as an excuse. If my private life is unhappy, I’ve had my head in the sand. Now I’m saying I’ve done with work in that sense. I’ve got a sense of responsibility \ and I’ll put it right. But I want to put myself in a position where I’m having more fun.”

M&S emphasised that it has not appointed headhunters to search for an external successor and that its preference was still to find an internal candidate. But the announced departure of Mr Leaver, who had led the home, international and online division, narrowed the already depleted field of possible successors. M&S insiders had tipped Mr Leaver as the most likely internal candidate. His decision to leave rather than accept effective demotion is said to have surprised Sir Stuart. Mr Leaver was seen as one of the few at M&S willing to differ with Sir Stuart.

Mr Esom’s departure last summer shocked the industry. His ousting came just three months after he was appointed to the board.

Sir David Michels, the former chief executive of Hilton Group who is deputy chairman of M&S, is running the search for a successor. Justin King, the chief executive of J Sainsbury, who has led its revival, has been mooted as the most probable candidate.

Ian Dyson, the M&S finance director who has been placed in charge of delivering the acceleration of Sir Stuart’s turnaround, has emerged as the most likely internal candidate. However, analysts say that he is likely to face criticism from the City for being too close to Sir Stuart’s regime.

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