Legal & General again hit out at Marks and Spencer’s decision to appoint Sir Stuart Rose as executive chairman, saying that the company’s explanation for the move did not assuage the insurer’s concerns about the concentration of power at the top.

M&S’s second-biggest shareholder, which normally keeps a low profile, put out a further statement on the issue following a meeting with Lord Burns, M&S chairman, and Sir David Michels, the senior independent director.