The problem with the row over Sir Stuart Rose’s elevation to executive chairman of Marks & Spencer is that there is no right answer.

On the one hand, it is indisputably a breach of corporate governance guidelines. And, at a time when M&S’s trading is anecdotally dreadful, there’s a strong argument that the man presiding over it should answer to someone other than himself.

But, on the other hand, what do the corporate governance box-tickers know about running a store chain? And who do they know that could do a better job of steering M&S through these difficult times than Rose?

M&S did a poor job of briefing shareholders about the plan and, perhaps if it had consulted more, the extraordinary outbursts from investors might be more tempered. But the shareholders are playing a dangerous game. Running M&S can’t be much fun right now and, rather than being forced into a humiliating climbdown, Rose might well be tempted to call it a day with his head held high, having achieved the recovery he set out to.

And where would that leave the business? While they are all undoubtedly talented in their respective specialisms, Ian Dyson, Kate Bostock and Steven Esom all have a lot to prove if they are to make it into Rose’s hot seat. The reality is it would need to be someone from outside – M&S old boy Justin King perhaps – and the last thing M&S needs right now is the upheaval a change at the top would cause.

That almost certainly won’t happen. The shareholders will have to back down – simply because M&S needs Rose a lot more than he needs M&S.

The right man for the job?

Last week’s Kingfisher results showed just how big a job lies ahead of its new UK chief executive. While many names were bandied about, Superdrug boss Euan Sutherland wasn’t on many people’s lips.

The giant Scotsman has a great reputation as an operations guy and apparently Asda was also after him for a senior role, which says a lot about his talents. But to go from the low-profile Superdrug to one of UK retail’s most challenging roles will be an acid test of his capabilities.

tim.danaher@retail-week.com