Marks & Spencer dampened speculation last week that Paul Myners may be interested in a permanent role as chairman of the UK retailer.

Myners, former chairman of Gartmore, the fund manager, was drafted in as acting chairman in May after the departure of Luc Vandevelde and Roger Holmes, M&S's chairman and chief executive respectively. Myners had been a non-executive board member at M&S since April 2002.