Gerrard joined Next in 1987 as a buyer, before leading the retailer’s PR department. She became marketing director in 2007, replacing Sue Myatt. Next is looking for a replacement for Gerrard, .
Next said it did not comment on staff moves below board level.
The news came before Next’s latest trading update this morning showed that a boom in directory sales, which includes online, helped push the brand into positive sales growth in its second quarter – the 13 weeks to 29 July.
Full-price directory sales for the quarter were up 11.4% year-on-year – more than enough to make up for a 7.4% drop in physical retail sales.
It meant that overall sales for the quarter were up 0.7%. But a 3.0% decline in the first quarter means that in the year to date, sales are down 1.2%.
Despite the increase in full-price sales, total sales were down in the quarter.
Next said: "We went into the end-of-season sale in July with 5% less stock and markdown sales are down 14%. This meant that statutory total sales, including markdown sales, were down 2.1% in the quarter and down 2.3% in the first half."
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