Sunderland-based furniture and floorings retailer ScS Group said on Wednesday its CEO David Knight, who joined the business 32 years ago, “has decided to retire from full time executive responsibilities and will be leaving the group.”

ScS said: “He has given 12 months’ notice in accordance with his contract and is prepared to be flexible should the appointment of his successor and a smooth handover require a little longer.

“A search process to identify David’s successor will commence shortly.”

ScS chairman Alan Smith said: “David has committed a very substantial part of his working career to ScS and has been pivotal to its success.

“We are delighted that he will remain in the role of group CEO until we have his successor in place and ensured an orderly handover.

“On behalf of the board, shareholders and all other ScS stakeholders, I thank David for his outstanding contribution to the group and wish him the best of health and happiness for his life beyond ScS.”

ScS also issued a trading update ahead of announcing its interim results for the 26 weeks ended January 25, 2020, on March 17.

“The group has traded in line with the board’s expectations in the first half of the financial year,” said the update.

“Encouragingly, the last nine weeks, which includes the key winter sales period, has seen like-for-like order intake growth of 1.2% when compared to the same period in the prior year.

“This is an improvement on trading for the first 17 weeks of the year, which had a like-for-like order intake decline of 7.1%.

“This has resulted in a like-for-like order intake decrease for the 26 weeks ended 25 January 2020 of 4.4% and a two year like-for-like order intake decrease of 2.9%.

“The group continues to focus on building a flexible and resilient business, whilst delivering a value proposition with excellent customer service.

“Whilst we are mindful of the continued economic uncertainty and subdued consumer confidence, we believe that this focus puts us in a strong position to take advantage of opportunities which will add value in the longer term.”