The chairman's resignation comes weeks after former Mars Inc executive Mike Gallacher joined as Safestyle's chief executive officer.

The Bradford-based retailer, which sells PVC windows and doors to the home improvements market, has been struggling with a steady decline in sales volume amid rising inflation and dipping consumer confidence in the Britain.

"Peter assumed the role of Chair at short notice but it has become clear that the specific challenges currently facing the business and the time commitment required are beyond what he envisaged," Safestyle said in a statement.

Richardson joined the company's board as a non-executive director in July 2016.

Safestyle added it would now look for a chairman with "requisite time, experience and turnaround skills".

In April, the company scrapped a recommended dividend to preserve cash after 2017 pretax profit fell by more than a quarter.

Chris Davies, currently a non-executive director of Safestyle and formerly the CEO of building products supplier SIG Plc, will lead the search for new chairman.

(Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)