// M&S CEO said company’s plans to shut 110 stores are “not finite”
// M&S has plans to close 85 full-line stores and around 25 Simply Food outlets
Marks & Spencer chief executive Steve Rowe has said further shop closures are likely to take place as plans to shut 110 stores were “not finite”.
M&S has plans to close 85 full-line stores and around 25 Simply Food outlets as it looks to offset its losses.
Rowe told shareholders at an AGM that the retailer’s portfolio of legacy stores was “holding it back”.
M&S chairman Archie Norman said the overhaul would help the retailer return to sustainable profit growth as it looks to direct resources elsewhere in the business, including online growth.
Norman said the retailer was now paying the price for “not shutting stores 10 or 20 years ago”.
Rowe added that M&S will likely meet its £350 million savings targets through axing “old-fashioned stores”.
Meanwhile, M&S received positive feedback from shareholders, who appeared to support its restructuring plans.
Furthermore, M&S’s entire workforce missed out on their annual bonuses after failing to hit performance targets this year.
Rowe happened to be one of the thousands of staff who missed the payout, although his total pay packet for the year jumped by 48 per cent to £1.7 million, compared with £1.1 million a year earlier.
His annual pay deal was approved by shareholders.
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