The announcement was made via a recent memo submitted to the London Stock Exchange.
This follows the departure of former chair Andrew Higginson, disclosed in late April.
Shapland will exit his role as ESG chair while continuing as a committee member. He will also step down from the audit and risk committee, previously led by non-executive director Sarah Kuijlaars, who assumed the role from Ian Dyson in June.
Prama Bhatt, a non-executive director and ESG Committee member, has been appointed to succeed Darren Shapland as chair of the committee, beginning immediately.
In its annual report covering the period ending 31 January, the group—parent company of JD, Size?, Footpatrol in the UK, and Shoe Palace in the US—experienced an 12.8% year-on-year drop in operating profit to £787 million. This decline reflects the ongoing impact of the Middle East conflict on earnings.
Profit before tax and adjustments fell 6.4% on a constant-currency basis. At constant currency, sales rose 11.7%, though like-for-like figures decreased 2.1% to £12.7 billion (a 2.1% organic increase).
The CEO, Régis Schultz, received a £2.5 million salary for the year, representing a 23% increase compared to the previous year, despite the underwhelming financial performance.