Michael Ward, who has been Managing Director of Harrods for more than a decade, will step down this year.
According to Sky News, Ward’s departure was announced to the department store’s staff on Thursday evening.
It’s not known whether a successor has been found to take on Ward’s role at the high-end British retailer.
Ward trained as a chartered accountant with Ernst and Young in 1980, moving to PwC and subsequently Arthur Andersen. In 1986 he became group finance director at Bassett Foods, the confectionery maker behind Refreshers and Sherbet Fountains, while gaining an MBA.
In 1989 he moved to drinks at HP Bulmer, and five years later became managing director at Lloyds Chemists.
A stint at private equity firm Apax led Ward to help it acquire grocer Somerfield. In 2005 Mohamed Al Fayed, the former owner of Harrods, offered Ward the top job.
Warn oversaw the smooth transition to Qatar holding, an investment arm of the Gulf state’s sovereign wealth fund, who acquired Harrods for £1.5bn.
Harrods attracts around 15m shoppers annually and managed to pay owners a £103m dividend for the year to the end of January 2015.
A Harrods spokeswoman declined to comment.
