Profits at Next set to overtake Marks & Spencer March 20, 2014 PROFITS at fashion and homeware retailer Next are set to top those at rival Marks & Spencer for the first time after the group rounded-off a buoyant year of sales with a strong Christmas trading period. The group, which has over 800 shops in the UK and overseas, said sales rose 5.5 per cent in [...]
How could Marks & Spencer improve its website? The web developer’s view July 8, 2014 Marks & Spencer announced today that the new M&S website has failed to perform, with a fall in online sales of 8.1 per cent, and with the development project going over budget by 50 per cent. Since the new site launched in February, customers have taken to the company's Facebook page, Twitter and web forums [...]
Discounts weigh on M&S despite rise in clothing April 10, 2014 MARKS & Spencer’s revamped womenswear collection, which has been fronted by stars including Dame Helen Mirren, showed signs of recovery in the fourth quarter despite overall general merchandise sales falling for an 11th consecutive quarter. The high street giant yesterday split clothing sales from other non-food sales for the first time, revealing a 0.6 per [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 23 May 2014 May 22, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Corrupt companies face higher fines British companies that bribe foreign officials to win contracts, commit fraud, or launder money, face fines of up to 400 per cent of their illicit profits, under new penalty guidelines. In the most serious cases companies will pay fines comparable with those meted out in the US, where [...]
M&S profit falls less than expected as Bolland stresses step by step approach May 20, 2014 Marks and Spencer has reported a fall in profits for the third year in a row: in the year ended in March, the store saw a 3.9 per cent decrease in underlying pre-tax profit, to £623m. That is, however, considerably better than the 7.5 per cent drop analysts have been predicting. Pressured chief executive Marc [...]
Bottom Line: Bolland must use his breathing space wisely April 10, 2014 MARKS & Spencer’s boss Marc Bolland usually looks pretty pleased with himself, but yesterday his proud smile was somewhat justified. By posting the retailer’s best clothing performance in three years – based on an improvement in its crucial womenswear lines – Bolland has proved the critics wrong, pulling something that looks like the start of [...]
Male model Oliver Cheshire has the best job in the world June 23, 2014 For Oliver Cheshire, London Collections: Men means the chance to brush shoulders with his heroes. “It was my first ever Hackett show. I was really excited because I love Hackett, but when I got there someone was in my seat. The person turned around and it was Samuel L Jackson. The girls with the clipboards [...]
Strong results for meat supplier Cranswick as pig rearing grows April 7, 2014 SAUSAGE maker Cranswick has bucked tough conditions in the grocery market and record pig prices to post strong fourth quarter results yesterday. The FTSE 250 firm, which supplies supermarkets including Sainsbury’s with upmarket sausages and cooked meats, said underlying sales excluding acquisitions were up 12 per cent in the year to 31 March. Analysts forecast [...]
Contactless payments rising as TfL and retailers drive adoption March 12, 2014 CONTACTLESS payments on the high street jumped nearly 300 per cent last year, according to figures from Visa yesterday. Visa Europe’s director of contactless Mark Austin said that the 94.3m payments had been spurred by Transport for London’s use of contactless on buses last year and the increasing numbers of retailers installing terminals. Adoption from [...]
Marks & Spencer recruits Silicon Roundabout entrepreneurs for new website May 1, 2014 MARKS & Spencer has been recruiting Silicon roundabout’s finest to help develop its new website and to help lure the 19m customers a year who shop in its stores but do not use its website. The 130 year-old high street retailer broke away from its technology supplier Amazon and launched its own custom-built £150m [...]