Brand Index: Consumer spending pressures also in play on the high street November 5, 2013 MARKS & Spencer’s ninth consecutive quarter of falling sales is set to put further pressure on CEO Marc Bolland, who has argued that recent improvements to the fashion business have been “well-received” by customers, but that high-street spending has yet to catch up with the wider economic recovery. So is this an economy problem, or [...]
M&S sales continue to fall as Bolland has to hope for tenth time lucky November 5, 2013 Marks and Spencer has said this morning that its transformation is on track, although profits were 8.9 per cent lower at £261.1m during the six months to the end of September – the company's ninth reported loss. (Release) Analysts had predicted a 12 per cent decline in profits for the first half of the year, [...]
M&S’s new ad campaign will struggle to reverse slumping fashion sales November 5, 2013 YOU CAN visualise the meeting at Marks & Spencer’s headquarters when its new campaign, advertising its make-or-break Autumn collection, was finalised. An ad agency suggests the idea of female empowerment and the boardroom battleground. Any actual brand idea is forgotten, as the rolodex spins and agents are called. Actress Helen Mirren, artist Tracey Emin, author [...]
M&S to reveal fresh slump in fashion sales November 4, 2013 MARKS & Spencer will reveal how its revamped clothing range is faring tomorrow, with the City braced for another drop in sales. Chief executive Marc Bolland, who has pledged to turn around the general merchandise branch of the business, is set to reveal a ninth straight quarter of falling like-for-like sales as well as a [...]
M&S to ramp up its Simply Food store openings October 22, 2013 MARKS & Spencer is set to expand its fast-growing food business by opening 150 Simply Food stores in the UK over the next three years. Speaking at an investor day yesterday, M&S’s executive director for food Steve Rowe said half of the new openings will be in high street or out-of-town locations with car parks, [...]
M&S to open 150 new food stores creating over 5,000 new jobs October 22, 2013 Retailer Marks & Spencer has announced plans for 150 new franchise and owned UK Simply Food stores in the next three years in order "to further enhance its specialist food positioning and reduce drive times to access M&S Food". Roughly half of those stores will be of around 2,000 square feet and operated in convenience [...]
Equistone fancies French pudding maker October 21, 2013 EQUISTONE, the private equity house founded by ex-Barclays buyout executives, has taken a bite out of a French luxury pudding maker that supplies tasty treats to M&S and McDonalds. The outfit, led by managing partner Guillaume Jacqueau, has bought a majority stake in French dessert conglomerate Europeenne des Desserts (EDD) for an undisclosed sum. The [...]
Bolland loses key womenswear buyer from M&S October 20, 2013 MARKS and Spencer confirmed yesterday that one of its key womenswear executives has resigned, delivering a further blow to the chain as it attempts to repair its struggling clothing division. Gillian Ridley Whittle, development and buying director for womenswear plans to leave in six months to join Australian department store group Target. Her departure comes [...]
Brand Index: There’s still time for M&S’s autumn range to blossom October 15, 2013 LAST week Marks & Spencer’s general merchandise arm was dealt a blow when a number of respected analysts warned that it is continuing to lose market share in women’s fashion, leading to a fall in its share price. Autumn sales figures won’t be released until next month, but if the naysayers turn out to be [...]
UK tangled up in 13m words of EU red tape October 13, 2013 BRITISH businesses have been hit with more than 3,500 new European Union rules since David Cameron came to power, according to figures released today that set out the enormous impact of the Brussels bureaucracy on UK companies. Despite the coalition’s commitment to cutting red tape, since May 2010 there have been 13m extra words of [...]