Woolworths today parted company with chief executive Trevor Bish-Jones, a seemingly sudden move that took the market by surprise.

Bish-Jones is leaving after six years at the helm, although he will remain for three months while a successor is found. Chairman Richard North said: "The board has decided the time is right to have a change of leadership to help take the group forward. Trevor has done some great things but it is important that we move on to the next phase. I don't think there is any mystery here."

Bymodern chief-executive standards, Bish-Jones isn't gettingmuch by way of thanks for his work. His £500,000 salary will be paid up, and other compensation for loss of office will be negotiated. But his share options are deeply under water, and the 680,000 ordinary shares he owns are not worth much either.

The shares have tumbled from a year high of 27.5p, and were today down 0.68 at 9.1p. Woolies has long been seen as one of the retail walking dead, with the outdated stores dragging down the performance of the publishing and wholesale entertainment arms. Like-forlike sales at the shops were down 2.2% in the 19 weeks to 14 June as conditions on the High Street worsened.

2entertain, the joint venture with BBC Worldwide, continues to boom thanks to sales of Planet Earth DVDs in the US. Woolworths is looking to cash in its stake, a move that will be welcomed by shareholders but adds to the perception it can only make profits by selling off parts of the empire.

In particular, it has struggled to cope with the decline in the popularity of CDs. But North denies that the stores are moribund, insisting: "We are doing very nicely thank you. We are marginally down on last year but that's pretty commendable given the tough environment."

Woolies says it is "cautious" about the economy, and believes the spending power of many of its customers will be reduced by inflation. North argues that the stores' positioning at the bargain end of the High Street may help.

Woolworths is selling leaseholds in Chiswick, Islington, Clapham and Edgware Road to Waitrose for £25.5 million, leaving it with 817 stores across Britain.

The firm was fined £350,000 by the Financial Services Authority last week for failing to tell the stock market about changes to a major supply contract quickly enough. The FSA called the failure, "unacceptable".

Headhunters have begun to look for a new chief executive. North said the board wants "somebody with great leadership skills who can motivate the management team and take a fresh look at the business". He is openminded on whether this should be an external or internal candidate.