Dunelm Group plc’s chief executive John Browett is stepping down for personal reasons with immediate effect.

"We will immediately start a search for John's replacement and in the meantime I will provide interim executive leadership supported by our deputy chairman Will Adderley and chief financial officer Keith Down,” said chairman Andy Harrison.  

"Dunelm remains the market leader in homewares and we have ambitious and profitable growth plans to continue building the UK's biggest and best multi-channel homewares retailer. We have a strong executive team in place to make this happen and the board remains confident in the group's future prospects."

Appointed chief executive in July 2015 after leaving as boss of high street retailer Monsoon, Mr Browett was also previously senior vice-president of Apple’s retail division and chief executive of Dixons. He said it was “time to move onto a new challenge” and he was looking forward to the next “chapter of my career”.

Last month Dunelm said it expects full year profits to fall following weak sales. However, the fourth quarter showed an improvement with revenue boosted by its recent acquisition of Woldstores.

In today’s announcement, Dunelm said trading in the first two months of the new financial year has “started positively with an encouraging like-for-like sales performance”.