Former Majestic Wine managing director John Colley has resigned from his role as chief trading officer at Kingfisher after just 20 months in the position.

The Times reported that he will return to Majestic Wine under new ownership, after its stores were bought for £95 million earlier this month by American asset manager Fortress Investment Group.

The deal will separate Majestic from its sister brand Naked Wines, which will still be run by founder Rowan Gormley and could now be up for a stock exchange listing.

The wine retailer said at the time of the transaction that it will use the net proceeds to cut debt and invest in its Naked Wines business, as well as returning £3.8 million to shareholders through a special dividend.

Majestic made underlying earnings of £11.3 million on sales of £267.6 million in the year to April.

This is not the first time Colley has left left Kingfisher, as he previously moved from the position of commercial director to become chief operating officer of the Dutch DIY group Maxeda. This was followed by two years as managing director at Majestic Wine, before becoming chief executive of Hobbycraft for eight weeks, and moving back to Kingfisher as group trading director.

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