Finance director withdraws resignation
Instore group finance director Gary Brown has withdrawn his resignation and will now remain with the company.

No reasons were given by Brown or the variety-store retailer. In January, the company said that Brown planned to leave 'to pursue other interests that will allow him to spend more time with his family'.

At the end of February, chief executive Angus Monro resigned from Instore, which trades as Instore and Poundstretcher, and was replaced by Trevor Coates, former chief executive officer of Australia-based Foodland Associated.

In February the company also issued two profit warnings, cautioning that profits for its financial year to February 25 2006 will be 'substantially below current market expectations'.

Monro blamed 'a significant shortfall in sales against internal expectations' in the four weeks to February 11 for the company's most recent warning.

Instore also highlighted that operating costs, particularly at its new Huddersfield distribution centre, continued to run ahead of forecast.