One of Woolworths’ most senior directors has quit only a month after the high street retailer’s new chief executive savaged the poor performance of the group.

Simon Turner, who joined Woolworths from Tesco in January as retail and operations director, is understood to have left the pick ‘n’ mix retailer earlier this week.

His appointment at the beginning of the year was hailed as a “champagne moment” by Trevor Bish-Jones, Woolworths' former chief executive.

Steve Johnson replaced Mr Bish-Jones in September and last month widely criticised the performance of the struggling business when he delivered the group’s £99.7 million half-year loss.

He said the group’s product ranging was wrong, availability was dreadful and the look of the stores needed a vast improvement.

There are now growing fears that Tony Page, who joined Woolworths from Asda and is managing director of commercial and marketing operations, may also leave the business.

A Woolworths spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment.

In recent weeks, Britain’s most important credit insurers have refused to cover Woolworths' suppliers amid escalating fears over its finances.

Mr Turner’s departure comes as the retailer prepares for Christmas, when it generates almost 40 per cent of its annual sales.

In September, Mr Johnson said he wanted to simplify Woolworths’ management structure as well as slash costs by axing the group’s final salary pension scheme and offloading up to 120 stores.

At the time he said: “I was prepared for a big challenge and nothing I’ve seen over the past two weeks has disabused me of that notion. I don’t expect a turnaround to happen quickly or easily but I think there are things that we can do in the near term which will start to move us in the right direction.”

Shares in Woolworths, which have tumbled more than 80 per cent over the past year, were up 0.02p at 4.17p in early trading. Sir Alan Sugar, the star of BBC TV's The Apprentice, acquired a near four per cent stake last week.

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