JJB Sports finance director Lawrence Coppock has revealed he intends to leave the troubled retailer within the next 12 months.

The decision by Coppock, who only joined JJB Sports in May 2009, will come as a surprise to observers but he feels this task is largely done.

JJB Sports said that since joining, Coppock “has played a significant role in the initiatives taken to save the company from the brink of insolvency and to stabilise its financial position, placing the company on its current course for longer term growth”.

The retailer said: “Lawrence has indicated that he feels that the role he was initially recruited to perform is substantially completed and that now is an appropriate opportunity for the board to find a finance director who can grow with the company over time.”

Coppock will work with JJB Sports chief executive Keith Jones and other board members to recruit his replacement.

Last month, as it showed off a new-look store in Slough to City analysts, JJB Sports reported that sales in the six weeks to July 4 were up 22.3% like-for-like. Cumulative like-for-like sales since the start of its financial year on February 1 were ahead by 12.1%.

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