Marks & Spencer to cut 950 jobs as it revamps in face of virus outbreak

Marks & Spencer has put 950 jobs at risk as the retail group steps up a revamp in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The company said the roles would be impacted in the “central support functions in field and central operations and property and store management”. It added that the shake-up would reduce the duplication of some roles and free up "retail teams to focus more on the customer".

M&S said it has now started consultation with its employee representative group and has set out its intention to first offer voluntary redundancy to staff impacted by the move.

Sacha Berendji, Director of Retail, Operations and Property at M&S, said: “Our proposals reflect an important next step in our Never the Same Again programme to accelerate our transformation and become a stronger, leaner and more resilient business. Through the crisis we have seen how we can work faster and more flexibly by empowering store teams and it’s essential that we embed that way of working. Our priority now is to support all those affected through the consultation process and beyond.”

Chief executive Steve Rowe and chairman Archie Norman are attempting to revive the perennial retail struggler. On announcing annual results in May, management said it intends to enact three years of progress in its strategy in one. Under the tagline "Never the Same Again", the pair hope to transform the business including its management structures and product lines.

Clive Black of house broker Shore Capital today said Covid had hastened management’s decision. He said: “Change which does involve M&S’s people is to be expected. I would not expect this to be end of the process at the business their own management has called out as not fit for purpose. This is an ongoing process.”

Black said decisions must be made on how many stores M&S needs, which products to sell more or less of and the details of its soon-to-launch online food operation.

M&S joins fellow High Street stalwarts including John Lewis and Boots in announcing job cuts since the pandemic hit. The firm has cut its prized dividend as it attempts to weather the storm brought by the pandemic, which forced non-food stores to close.

Unlike John Lewis, the job cuts are not linked to store closures. M&S said last year it plans to shut 110-120 shops by April 2024, and it is halfway through that programme, having closed 54 shops. However, some closed stores have relocated from High Streets to nearby retail parks so jobs have been transferred.

M&S also faces a headache in devising a strategy for its food shops. The grocery division been doing well however a dry up in office workers and rail passengers buying food to go has hit trading. Its railway stores ares franchised through operator SSP.

M&S is due to launch groceries online in a joint venture with Ocado in the autumn.