Londis sales director Scott Wharton is to leave Musgrave GB after seven years at the company.

Musgrave confirmed Wharton, who joined from Tesco in 2007, had resigned. A date has not been set for his departure.

“Scott has handed in his resignation and decided that now is the time to move on,” said a Musgrave GB spokeswoman.

She added that while Londis looked to appoint a new sales director, the team would be supported by managing director Donal Horgan.

Musgrave also confirmed a regional field sales director had also resigned, but declined to reveal the name of the director.

The news comes just weeks after Musgrave announced it had restructured its sales team. But the company claimed the resignation was not connected to the reshuffle, adding that the director hoped to become an independent retailer.

Both departures follow a disappointing year sales-wise for Londis. The spokeswoman admitted that sales “weren’t as we would have hoped them to be in 2013 overall”, blaming overall market decline and a tough operating environment.

Londis had suffered in particular because many of its stores were in “financially stretched” areas, but the group had an investment programme in place to improve performance and drive operational efficiency, she added.

In 2012, Musgrave Group sales totalled €4.9bn, with Londis sales at €1.4bn. Its 2013 sales are set to be released later this year.