Steven Esom became Sir Stuart Rose's sacrificial lamb yesterday when the head of Marks and Spencer's food division was sacked as the retailer revealed just how bad things had got for the £4.25bn division.

Announcing in his first breath a 4.5 per cent fall in like-for-like food sales in the 13 weeks to June 28 - when rivals are still reporting stable growth - Sir Stuart dismissed Mr Esom in the next.