Axe to fall on more than 100 M&S stores as retail giant struggles to keep profits high
● Two Scottish outlets among 14 named for closure Closure of Tesco Direct puts 500 jobs at risk
Marks & Spencer is to close more than 100 stores by 2022 as it accelerates a transformation programme that will mean thousands of jobs being put at risk.
The closures will affect the major retail brand’s clothing and home stores, which have under-performed for several years.
M&S named 14 stores earmarked for closure, including one in The Plaza in East Kilbride and on Falkirk’s High Street.
Premier outlets in London’s Bayswaterandhollowayroad will also shut down, with a total of 872 employees being affected.
The retailer has already closed 22 clothing stores, affecting about 900 jobs, as part of a “radical transformation” plan intended to tackle years of falling sales and profits. The cull is part of a five-year turnaround plan announced 18 months ago spearheaded by chairman Archie Norman and chief executive Steve Rowe to slash the amount of shopfloor space devoted to M&S’S clothing ranges.
Initially Mr Rowe said 30 stores would close, but as sales move online the company has decided to eliminate 25 per cent of the floor space devoted to clothing and homeware.
More Scottish outlets are almost certain to be among the remaining closures still to be announced.
Sacha Berendji, retail and property director at M&S, said: “We are making good progress with our plans to reshape our store estate to be more relevant to our customers and support our online
0 Retail giant Marks & Spencer is closing more than 100 stores as clothing and home sales suffer ket, New Mersey Speke, Northampton, Stockton and Walsall are proposed for closure and the firm will now enter a period of consultation with affected employees.
The announcement comes a day before the retailer is expected to unveil another troubling set of annual figures.
Today’s results are set to show that underlying pre-tax profit across the group fell 6 per cent to £573 million.
David Gill, national officer for shopworkers’ union Usdaw, said: “This salamislicing approach to reorganising the business is extremely distressing for the staff.
“Usdaw has thousands of members working for Marks & Spencer and the staff now need, more than ever, the representation and support of an independent trade union.”
“Since M&S first announced its closure programme in November 2016, 18 stores have shut and three have been relocated. We again urge M&S management to abandon their long-held resistance to recognising Usdaw as the union to represent its staff. It is simply unfair that they continue to refuse their staff access to Usdaw.” Supermarket Tesco has put 500 jobs at risk after announcing plans to shut down its non-food website, Tesco Direct.
The decision follows a detailed review into the business, which Tesco said faced “a number of significant challenges”, including high fulfilment and online marketing costs.
Tesco said it “concluded that, despite its best efforts, there is no route to profitability for this small, lossmaking part of the business”.
Tesco Direct will cease trading on 9 July. The group will also close its fulfilment centre at Fenny Lock in Milton Keynes.
The move puts about 500 staff at risk of redundancy.
Charles Wilson, Tesco’s chief executive for the UK & Ireland, said: “We want to offer our customers the ability to buy groceries and non-food products in one place and that’s why we are focusing our investment into one online platform.
“This decision has been a very difficult one to make, but it is an essential step towards establishing a more sustainable nonfood offer and growing our business for the future.”
Tesco Direct sells a range of general merchandise, including homeware, tech, toys and clothing for collection or delivery.
The company said it was “committed” to bringing general mechanise to customers, but said it planned to do so through a single online platform.