Just days after it emerged that the potential sale of the UK boots chain was off the table, Sebastian James, the executive who led the turn around at the company has said he’s stepping down.

News that owner Walgreens Boots Alliance would retain the British business, rather than selling it or going for an IPO (an option that had been rejected by WBA a few weeks before shelving the sale plan) is likely to have proved a disappointment to the team at Boots.

And now CEO James has quit with a new post lined up at a private equity-owned firm. He’ll be running Veonet, one of Europe’s largest chains of ophthalmology clinics. It owns SpaMedica in the UK. The firm has 275+ clinics in five countries and carries out millions of ophthalmological procedures and eye surgeries annually.

Having joined Boots in the top job in 2018, he’ll leave in November, which means he’ll be in post to oversee the crucial drive into the all-important Christmas trading period for the beauty and health retail giant.

The change of mind on the part of WBA this year is actually the second time it has decided to keep Boots as part of its organisation in the last two years.

The once-struggling business has undergone an impressive turnaround in Britain after closing a number of stores, focusing even more heavily on beauty in some locations and ramping up its online operations.

The performance at Boots has regularly been the strongest aspect of announcements at WBA in recent periods. Like-for-like sales at the chain and the webstore were up 6% in the period from March to May. And it saw its 13th quarter on the trot of market share growth.

WBA had reportedly been seeking a price of around £7 billion when it planned to sell Boots in 2022, but those interested in the chain weren’t prepared to meet that price.

James, who previously ran Dixons Carphone (now Currys), which is stock exchange-listed, was reportedly keen on the idea of a London stock exchange move for Boots.

The CEO also recently endorsed the Labour party as the best option for retail and consumers in this week’s general election.