// M&S considers hundreds of job cuts as it reduces teams across the board
// M&S is back in growth mode after years of decline due to more competitive pricing
M&S has claimed that reports it is to cut hundreds of head office job cuts as “simply inaccurate.
The Sunday Times reported that the retailer is reducing teams across the board, largely through natural attrition, with hundreds of jobs expected to be cut.
An M&S spokeswoman said this figure was “simply inaccurate”.
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M&S is back in growth mode after years of decline due to more competitive pricing in groceries and improvements to its ecommerce operation.
In the 13 weeks to December 31, like-for-like sales rose by 8.6% on clothing and by 6.3% on food. M&S reported interim pre-tax profits of £205.5 million.
In 2020, M&S cut 950 head-office jobs as part of a broader cull of 7,000 roles – about 9% of it workforce.
As it prepares for job cuts, M&S is weighing up whether to ditch its London headquarters altogether when the lease comes up for renewal in 2028.
M&S food is excellent, however they seem to have a scatter-gun approach to their clothes, bringing in random retailers; they are a little further down the road of losing their identity than John Lewis. Whoever buys for them should be dismissed instantly, they don’t seem to know their target market any longer. I am a lifelong M&S shopper and want them to survive but where I used to be able to buy staple wardrobe items which I then supplemented with higher end items, now it’s increasingly difficult. The purchase of Jaeger would be a good sign if Marks could be trusted to maintain the quality but it has failed to do that with its own brand. Menswear has much better design and quality than women’s but the sizing, particularly of trousers is very inconsistent. Shape up Marks and remember who you’d customers are – youngsters will never shop with you so stop trying and cater for those who want to shop with you.
As job cuts are considered at head office there is news of M&S linking with CommerceHub
for digital expansion. The way to go for other major fashion retailers – John Lewis?
M&S is a finicky business.