High street retail chain Marks and Spencer Group PLC has announced the departure of Eoin Tonge as its Chief Financial Officer.

Eoin joined M&S just over two years ago and will be leaving to take up a new role as Finance Director at ABF Plc.

M&S is now commencing a process to appoint a successor and Eoin will continue to fulfil his current role in line with his notice period, which will include supporting the business through its Interim Results in November.

Archie Norman, Chairman of M&S commented: “Eoin has made a great contribution to the transformation of M&S, bringing quality and rigour to the finance function and building a very strong team. Our financial controls, reporting, and financial discipline are in a far stronger place than when he arrived. Under his guidance, we have restored the balance sheet and created a strong platform for the next phase. Eoin has been extremely helpful in supporting the Board and seeing through our planned succession to Stuart Machin as Chief Executive and Katie Bickerstaffe as Co-Chief Executive. He has been a great colleague; we thank him for his efforts at M&S and wish him well in his new role.”

Eoin Tonge, CFO and Chief Strategy Officer at M&S commented: “It’s never an easy decision to leave a great business like M&S. However, the opportunity has knocked for me to take on a new financial role across a diverse portfolio of businesses. Behind every great business there are, of course, great people and I’m incredibly proud of the outstanding team we’ve built. The M&S I leave behind is undoubtedly stronger and more resilient than the M&S I found. My priority now is to ensure a smooth handover to Stuart and Katie and the wider leadership, and I have every confidence that M&S will flourish, as they reposition the business for future growth.”