Mystery of high flyer’s no-show

MARKS & Spencer has yet to set a date for Laura Wade-Gery to return to work after the director’s maternity leave ended last week.

The 51-year-old high flyer, who was poached from Tesco with a £4million golden handshake, completed her year-long period away from work on Wednesday.

But her return remained a mystery last night after it emerged that the date and her responsibilities under new boss Steve Rowe have still not been set. The retailer has seen big changes, with Rowe replacing Marc Bolland as chief executive, a role for which Wade-Gery was once considered a frontrunner.

M&S said in August last year that she would take four months off. Then on December 23 it said her maternity leave would be extended by eight months. Rowe’s promotion was announced just 15 days later.

The firm said Wade-Gery had five weeks’ holiday at her disposal. But its failure to establish a return date is likely to fuel speculation that she may have other plans. She is seen as a formidable executive, but her chances of the top job may have been dented in 2014 when M&S botched a relaunch of its online business when she was multichannel director. Nonetheless she was then put in charge of the online and stores divisions.