Pirc, the investor advisory service, has urged shareholders in Marks and Spencer to vote against the retailer’s remuneration report, just days after Sir Stuart Rose, executive chairman, gave up £1m ($1.6m) worth of shares to avert a public showdown with top shareholders.

Pirc has also increased pressure on the high street bellwether over its troubled succession process by supporting a resolution from the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, calling for the appointment of an independent chairman by July 2010. Riskmetrics, another voting adviser, has supported this resolution.