So, the man behind one in four of the bras and knickers in the UK has begun his long goodbye. Sir Stuart Rose, the executive chairman of Marks & Spencer, presented his final annual profits last week, after a stint that has, he likes to point out, lasted longer than the second world war.

His end of term report reads like a stroll through M&S’s womenswear department – sometimes good, occasionally fun, but often disappointing. In many ways, he leaves M&S much the same as he found it. The share price is about the same level and, while profits might have topped £1bn in 2008, the now far bigger chain is making less (£632m) than it did when Rose moved in.

His successor, Marc Bolland, has a bulging in-box. He has to find a way to pull in younger shoppers and fix the food business. M&S invented ready meals and was once regarded as having the poshest food on the high street, but Waitrose has eaten its lunch. Internet ordering and home delivery are not even on the agenda. The distribution network is decrepit – M&S has almost 100 warehouses, whereas a lean, mean, modern retailer should have about four.

But to highlight the shortcomings of the Rose era is to forget the mess he inherited: dismal stores selling dull, overpriced clothes; a boardroom in constant disarray and under threat of takeover. Sales have grown by almost £2bn. Some £3bn was spent on store improvements. There are now 337 overseas stores in countries ranging from Ireland to China.

Rose is a natural wit and raconteur, who speaks at the speed of a racing commentator and is always groomed to within an inch of his life. There are few chief executives these days who might one day be photographed emerging worse for wear from a nightclub and the next be opining on Question Time.

M&S may well get better without Rose – who will be a part-time chairman until next March before finally heading through the check-out – but the business world will sure be duller.

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Marks & Spencer chairman Sir Stuart Rose declared today that the UK has come through the deepest ravages of the economic turmoil. Speaking after M&S posted profits of £632.5m for the last financial year, Rose said he was not worried about the UK falling into a double-dip recession.

“Marks & Spencer has had a good year,” said Rose, who handed over the running of M&S to new chief executive Marc Bolland at the start of May. “With the worst effects of the recession behind us, strong foundations in place, and our core values intact, I am confident that M&S is well set for growth under Marc’s direction,” Rose added.

At £632.5m, M&S’s adjusted pre-tax profits for the 12 months to 27 March were 4.6% higher than a year ago but well below the £1bn profits achieved in 2008. Rose described current trading as “satisfactory”, but warned that next month’s emergency budget could deter consumers from venturing on to the high street.

“Consumers are naturally concerned about any impact of the budget on 22 June. We therefore remain cautious about the outlook for the year ahead.” M&S’s staff will share an £81m bonus pot after the company achieved its financial targets for the year. This is M&S’s second-highest payout on record. It is not yet clear how it will be allocated between shop floor workers and senior management.

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Marks & Spencer chairman Sir Stuart Rose may be forced to take a pay cut after angry shareholders demand a reduction in his £1.13m basic salary. The retailer’s remuneration committee could reduce Rose’s salary within two months following consultations with shareholders. But retail analysts suggest Rose could leave M&S earlier than his stated departure deadline of July 2011 if the row escalates.

Some shareholders at blue-chip institutions believe that after the recent, expensive recruitment of Marc Bolland as the high street giant’s new chief executive on a £15m package, Rose’s remuneration should now fall substantially. He will hand day-to-day control to Bolland in May. The shareholder revolt over Rose’s pay threatens to overshadow the arrival at M&S in May of Bolland, a respected retail executive who has joined the company from the supermarket firm WM Morrison.

Relations between shareholders and M&S have deteriorated markedly in recent years. M&S is thought to be frustrated at its shareholders’ decision to go public on the pay issue. The remuneration committee is understood to have already begun a consultation with shareholders on Rose’s pay. However, the company is being criticised for not acting sooner to neutralise the issue. Two members of the five-strong committee – Sir David Michels and Martha Lane Fox – have historically enjoyed close relations with Rose.

“We have paid for a very expensive chief executive. It would therefore seem appropriate for an executive chairman taking a back seat to be paid less,” one institutional shareholder said this evening.

Rose himself has not had good relations with shareholders since his decision to assume the roles of chairman and chief executive in 2008. Combining the two most powerful positions in a company contravenes corporate governance guidelines. Rose took on both jobs in order to conduct a better search for an internal replacement to him as chief executive. However, no suitable candidate emerged, and the former chairman, Lord Burns, received a controversial pay-off.

“Given Rose has only a year to go, and the chairman of a FTSE 100 company is always going to be paid a lot of money, and that this will cause damage, it could be a pyrrhic victory,” said a leading retail analyst. “But he made a mistake taking on the dual roles. It would not be a shock if he departed early.”

Meanwhile, M&S is attempting to improve its ethical and environmental credentials with a welter of new commitments under its Plan A programme. M&S says it is increasing its fair trade product lines, improving sustainable sourcing of palm oil and other key commodities, and taking steps to ensure garment workers in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka receive a “living wage”.

The move has won support from Jonathon Porritt, founder director of the sustainable development charity Forum for the Future, who said: “Three years on, Plan A has become an undisputed ‘market leader’ in terms of corporate sustainability initiatives. Through it, M&S is addressing the right things, in the right way, to secure critically important outcomes.”

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