Marks and Spencer suffered an investor revolt at its annual meeting on Wednesday with a strong shareholder vote in favour of a resolution calling on Sir Stuart Rose to stand down early as chairman.

Some 37.7 per cent of votes cast backed the resolution seeking the appointment of an independent chairman within the next year. Although the protest vote was less than the 75 per cent needed to pass it, it underlined the extent of shareholder dissatisfaction with Sir Stuart holding the roles of both chairman and chief executive.