Debenhams CEO Bucher quits after lenders take control

Debenhams said on Thursday its chief executive Sergio Bucher had decided to step down, nine days after the ailing British department store group's lenders took control.

The group's non-executive chairman Terry Duddy will assume the role of interim executive chairman until a permanent replacement is found, the company said.

Bucher, a former Amazon executive who joined Debenhams in October 2016, said that with new financing facilities in place it was time to move on.

Administrators were appointed to the group, which had been hit by a sharp slowdown in sales, high rents and ballooning debt on April 9.