Littlewoods has parted company with Alan Taylor, the managing director of the home shopping business acquired from GUS in May.
Alan Taylor was appointed by GUS to head the ARG Equation home shopping division, since renamed Shop Direct, in January, but left on Monday.
Littlewoods chairman David Simons said: 'Very often when you get an acquisition you find the style of management is not the style you want.'
Asked whether Taylor resigned or was sacked, Simons said: 'These things often have an element of all those characteristics.' Littlewoods was bought by the ambitious Barclay brothers last autumn.
Taylor was previously new business development director at ARG Equation before his appointment.
Shop Direct has struggled to get to grips with the long-term decline in the agency home shopping market. Suppliers were told shortly after Taylor's arrival that the discount on goods sold to GUS's home shopping division would increase from 8 to 12 per cent.
Simons said there were no plans to replace Taylor in the near future, but denied that the departure was a precursor to the proposed merger of the Shop Direct and Littlewoods Home Shopping businesses.
He added that Shop Direct would be supported by 'a sophisticated matrix management', which includes Aiden Barclay and the heads of agency catalogues, direct catalogues and finance at Shop Direct.
Simons said Littlewoods hoped to hear next month whether the Office of Fair Trading would recommend the proposed merger of the two businesses or refer it to the Competition Commission.
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