M&S chief digital and technology officer Rachel Higham is stepping down from her role.

The departure was announced in an internal memo circulated on Thursday (11 September), according to Sky News.

In the memo, M&S explained that Higham was “stepping back from her role”.

“Rachel has been a steady hand and calm head at an extraordinary time for the business, and we wish her well for the future,” it read.

Early last month, the food and fashion specialist said that it was not looking to replace Higham, following an enquiry by Sky News.

Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free

Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning

It remained unclear who would succeed Higham in the role or whether she would qualify for a payoff.

An M&S spokeswoman confirmed that the memo was genuine but refused to comment further.

M&S suffered from a cyber attack in April, causing its contactless payment systems to fail in-store.

In July, M&S chair Archie Norman told MPs that the retailer believed the cyberattack had been carried out by ransomware group DragonForce.

The business took a heavy financial hit to its profits following the attack, with an estimated 300m in profit loss.