UK high street retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) said on Wednesday that it plans to close 27 shops in the UK as a result of falling consumer demand over the last three months. As part of its third quarter interim management statement, M&S announced the proposed closure of 27 stores, including 25 underperforming Simply Food stores and two main chain M&S stores. It added that up to 780 jobs could be lost as a result of the measure.
UK high street retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) said on Wednesday that it plans to close 27 shops in the UK as a result of falling consumer demand over the last three months. As part of its third quarter interim management statement, M&S announced the proposed closure of 27 stores, including 25 underperforming Simply Food stores and two main chain M&S stores. It added that up to 780 jobs could be lost as a result of the measure.
The company also revealed a 1.2% drop in group sales over the last three months and said it was launching a cost-cutting programme aimed at reducing expenses by £175 mln to £200 mln.
Sir Stuart Rose, Chairman said: 'Group sales were down 1.2%. Sales in the UK were down 3.4%. Our post Christmas sale which started on 27 December with 15% less stock into sale than last year has cleared quickly.'
He added: 'We continued to control costs tightly and now expect operating cost growth for 2008/09 to be towards the lower end of our guidance of 4-5%.'
Rose said the company is also proposing to reduce the costs of its head offices, with the subsequent loss of up to 450 jobs, representing around 15% of our head offices headcount.
