Majestic Wine’s previous chief executive John Colley is understood to be returning to the retailer two years after departing under its new ownership.

Colley has resigned from his role as chief trading officer at Kingfisher after just shy of two years to return to the wine specialist, according to The Sunday Times.

Majestic Wine was acquired by American investment firm Fortress for £95m this month in a deal which separated the chain from its sister business Naked Wines, the online subscription service set up and still run by former Majestic boss Rowan Gormley.

Colley’s return to Majestic Wine marks his fourth appointment in four years. He had previously spent two years at Majestic until 2017 before taking the helm at Hobbycraft, a role he only held for eight weeks prior to his appointment at B&Q parent company Kingfisher, where he has been for 20 months.

Colley’s departure is the latest in a string of exits from Kingfisher, including chief financial officer Karen Witts, under the helm of outgoing boss Véronique Laury.

Laury, whose own departure from the DIY giant was confirmed in March, is being succeeded by Carrefour executive Thierry Garnier.

Majestic Wine, which has a 200-strong store estate, made underlying earnings of £11.3m on sales on £267.6m in the year to April.

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