The man waiting in the wings at M&S

LUC Vandevelde survived. In spring 2000, just a few months after he took over as executive chairman of Marks & Spencer, the silver-haired Belgian declared his confidence that the company would be turned round.

'If we don't deliver improved performance, I won't be sitting here in two years,' he said. Last week's M&S results - showing growth in clothing sales of more than 10% - finally vindicated the optimism Vandevelde had shown after he joined, having suffered grievous criticism for M&S's under-performance during most of his time at the company. He is the man of the moment.

But now, the spotlight is shifting. Yes, Vandevelde has shown that M&S could escape its downward spiral. But who will be the person to pilot this huge company through the next stage of its development?

Vandevelde acts as both chairman and chief executive. He has done so since the departure of the hapless Peter Salsbury, who spent a short but unhappy term as chief executive after Sir Richard Greenbury left.

The genial Vandevelde insists there is still plenty to do. 'You need recovery, proof of recovery and then you need to reflect upon your strategy,' he said last week. Only then should the company think of further changes at the top.

But he insists that he would be happy to give up the part of his job he took on with the departure of Salsbury. 'I don't have a problem with the split role at the top,' Vandevelde told Financial Mail.

And now, insiders believe that the M&S board is preparing the way for someone else to take over the chief executive's role. The man being groomed to step up is Roger Holmes, who joined from Kingfisher a year ago to take control of M&S's British operations. Vandevelde refuses to be drawn on when - or if - 42-year-old Holmes might become chief executive. He merely concedes that the company's July annual meeting 'would be as good a time as any other. It would be symbolic'.

Holmes's arrival was given little fanfare - and the initial reaction from investors was sniffy. Little was known about him, other than that he was an ex-McKinsey man who had spent the earlier part of his career at Price Waterhouse and was joining M&S from running Kingfisher's electricals division.

Though M& S headquarters gushed about how he was a gifted presenter and brilliant at writing reports, there were questions about whether he was a natural-born retailer.

At the time, Rowan Morgan, an analyst at stockbroker Teather & Greenwood, echoed the feelings of many in the City. 'Roger Holmes is a management consultant,' he said. 'I like retailers to be run by retailers.'

To compound the unsettled feelings about Holmes, M&S's handling of his appointment was a PR disaster - the fact that he was joining as head of UK retail was breathlessly announced by M&S in September 2000 - only for Kingfisher chief executive Sir Geoff Mulcahy to refuse point-blank to release him early from his 12-month contract.

Mulcahy, who has just announced the demerger of Woolworths from his B&Q-to-Comet conglomerate, was furious at Holmes's departure and the fact that he had already participated in newspaper interviews laying out his plans for M&S.

What followed was a public wrangle between Vandevelde and Mulcahy over Holmes's leaving date. Finally, Mulcahy released Holmes to start on 1 January, 2001.

On joining M&S, Holmes fell almost immediately into the public row over the enormous bonuses of M&S's bosses at a time when the company was still struggling. It emerged that he received £550,000 worth of shares on joining to compensate for loss of his Kingfisher share options - as well as a signingon bonus of £525,000 and options over shares worth £1.7m.

The disparity was highlighted when 1,500 demonstrators took to the streets of Paris to protest at the wholesale closure of M&S stores in Europe. At the same time, 3,500 of M&S's British managers were told they would not be receiving a bonus because profit targets had not been met.

Gradually, Holmes's measured, consistent approach won him praise. He gained much credit for signing up fashion guru George Davies, who had declared he would never go near M&S.

Bringing in Davies, and the launch of his Per Una range, ' created the surprise factor' that was eventually to mark the turning point of M&S's fortunes, according to Vandevelde.

And underpinning the recovery has been the contribution by Yasmin Yusuf - recruited last spring to give M&S's ranges a more coherent look - plus other designers. Vandevelde estimates that by the end of last year, more than half M&S's ranges reflected the impact of the new team at the top.

As well as getting behind the much-vaunted Perfect range of classic clothing that boosted the revival of womenswear over Christmas, Holmes has also masterminded the upgrade of M&S's tired-looking store portfolio into what he calls the 'white box' look.

So, now everyone has heard of him, has the verdict changed? Aside from frequent comments that Holmes does not have the charisma or immediate appeal of other retailers such as Stuart Rose or Allan Leighton, there has been a positive change in attitude. The feeling is that Holmes's serious and strategic approach complements that of the more personable and soundbite-giving Vandevelde.

Rhys Williams, an analyst at stockbroker Seymour Pierce, said: 'Holmes comes across as knowledgeable and is very good at dealing with the City, which is more than you can say for a lot of retailers.' An M&S insider added: 'Holmes is not charismatic, but he's a tremendously hard worker and a clear thinker.'