Marks & Spencer tightens belt and mulls Chinese breakaway

Marks & Spencer’s Chinese stores will be on the chopping block next week when chief executive Steve Rowe sets out his plans to turn the struggling retailer around.

Rowe will announce the closure of some of M&S’s 10 stores in the Far East when he reveals half-year numbers next week, Bloomberg reported.

The 49-year-old boss who has worked for the retailer since he was 15, promised to reveal the fate of both the international business and the portfolio of UK stores on November 8, when M&S is expected to post lower profit and sales.

Its Paris store on the Champs-Elysées is also likely to go in the overhaul.

M&S has been in China since 2008 but last year Rowe’s predecessor Marc Bolland opted to shrink its presence there, shutting five stores around Shanghai. It expanded online, however, opening stores on major ecommerce sites TMall, owned by Alibaba, and JD.com.

M&S has faced a general slowdown in China but has also been criticised for failing to adapt products and marketing to the Chinese market.