Marks & Spencer to axe 7,000 jobs within three months amid pandemic August 18, 2020 Marks & Spencer is set to slash 7,000 jobs by December in a huge restructuring brought about by the pandemic, it said today. The high street giant, which was struggling prior to coronavirus, will focus the cuts in its central support centre, regional management and UK stores. It comes on top of 950 job cuts [...]
Ocado lists M&S products ahead of delivery partnership launch August 5, 2020 Marks & Spencer has begun listing products on the Ocado website ahead of their delivery partnership, which is scheduled to begin next month. The supermarket has added more than 750 new products, which will be available to buy through the Ocado website from 1 September. However M&S warned customers that it may not be possible [...]
Shakespeare: M&S loyalty scheme gives new spark July 31, 2020 High street retailer Marks and Spencer launched their loyalty scheme ‘Sparks’ in 2015, but customer feedback branded it confusing and hard to use. Even CEO Steve Rowe himself admitted it needed “substantial improvement”. Sparks has now been relaunched as a digital-first loyalty scheme offering members instant rewards. For example, one customer at every store will [...]
Physical? Hybrid? Virtual? Companies re-imagine AGMs for 2021 and beyond July 20, 2020 Could the annual general meetings (AGMs) of 2021 and beyond look and feel very different? As companies start to consider the future format of corporate set-piece events, so the possibility arises these often sparsely attended gatherings could begin to evolve into significantly more enlightening and engaging occasions. This year’s AGM season largely coincided with lockdown, [...]
Marks & Spencer cuts 950 jobs as pandemic accelerates transformation plan July 20, 2020 Marks & Spencer (M&S) announced this morning that it will cut 950 jobs as it accelerates its transformation plan during the coronavirus pandemic. The retailer announced today that it will create a new retail management structure, which will affect 950 roles across central support functions and property and store management, in the latest blow for [...]
M&S set to announce hundreds of UK job cuts this week July 20, 2020 Supermarket giant Marks and Spencer (M&S) is set to announce plans for hundreds of job cuts later this week, according to reports, as the retailer undergoes a wide-scale restructure in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. M&S will begin announcing redundancy plans over the next few days, which are expected to run into their thousands [...]
Revenue soars at Ocado during lockdown July 14, 2020 Retail sales for the first half of 2020 for online grocer Ocado jumped 27 per cent to £1bn, as Brits did their supermarket shopping from home. The group reported a loss before tax of £40.6m in the six months to the end of May, citing an increase in investment to handle increased demand as a [...]
FTSE 100 falls as coronavirus cases overshadow Sunak stimulus July 9, 2020 The FTSE 100 lost one and a half per cent today as fears over a continued rise in coronavirus cases offset chancellor Rishi Sunak’s £30bn of extra financial firepower. The UK index initially barely moved after yesterday’s 0.55 per cent drop, which left it at 6,156 points. By 4pm today the FTSE 100 had fallen [...]
The Friday interview: Gary Boom on wine, trading and virtual tastings July 3, 2020 Nothing has been immune from the disruption wrought by Covid-19 and the wine industry is no different. City A.M. talks to BI Fine Wine chief Gary Boom about Bordeaux tastings, the wine industry and the value of an alternative asset class. “Here’s your routine when you start: it’s nine o’clock first tasting, with seven wines. [...]
Exclusive: Elixirr seeks London IPO to end coronavirus drought June 19, 2020 Management consultancy firm Elixirr, whose clients have included Barclays, O2 and RBS, is seeking a London IPO, ending a two-month drought in flotations on the London Stock Exchange. Elixirr will seek a listing on London’s junior AIM exchange this summer, City A.M. can reveal. The company, founded in 2009, plans to go on an equity-funded [...]