Upmarket retail giant Selfridges is recruiting a new finance director following confirmation Phillip Clarke has tendered his resignation.

The spokesman confirmed Clarke’s departure as being ‘his choice’ and that there was nothing untoward in his resigning after five years in the role.

His tenure with parent company Sears began 15 years ago, according to the spokesman, and he had ‘grown into the role like so many others at Selfridges’. Clarke is understood to have taken a role in the healthcare sector.

A spokesman for Selfridges said that Clarke left ‘a few weeks ago’. A statement lodged with Companies House records the departure at the end of June.

The search for a replacement is ‘ongoing’, a spokesman said.

Selfridges Holdings made pre-tax profits of £26.8m in the year to 3 February 2007, according to the most recent annual accounts filed with Companies House.

For the same year, the company had a turnover of £355.5m.

The high-profile departure comes at a trying time for retail, as finance directors navigate business through a difficult Christmas trading period.