Marks & Spencer enjoys French renaissance as Paris sales leap
MARKS & SPENCER saw sales across the Channel jump fourfold last year after rekindling its love affair with France, more than 12 years after its retreat from Europe.
Sales jumped 330 per cent to €28m (£24m) in the year to 30 March from £6.5m the previous year, accounts filed last week on Companies House show.
The British flagship made its long-awaited comeback to France in 2011 with a three-floor store on the Champs-Elysées, a decade after its exit from the country prompted street protests and disputes with the unions.
It opened a second store in October last year at So Ouest in Levallois-Perret, attracting over 80,000 customers in its first three days of trading.
M&S has also narrowed its loss before tax to €381,000 compared with €9.7m the previous year, which included start-up costs.