Is the Pants party over? Apart from Percy Pigs, M&S is all about pants. So much so that the company snared Victoria’s Secret ‘knicker queen’ (and founder of Knickerbox) Janie Schaffer in January to give it a bit of uplift in the smalls department.

But she resigned today after only three months in the job, apparently because she wasn’t given creative control over marketing and packaging, and was disappointed by the lack of time spent on creative process at the company.

Reports last week showed that, while M&S sales are healthy in the food department, its fashion figures continue to tumble – now for seven consecutive quarters, and down 3.8 per cent in the past three months.

Presumably, the brand was hoping that Schaffer’s expertise could boost its credentials. But M&S doesn’t need to do anything to its lingerie – it has the monopoly on the Great British pants drawer as things stand. It’s the dodgy cardigans and pull-tie trousers they need to sort out.