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Marks & Spencer
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Marks & Spencer is a major British retailer, with over 840 stores in more than 30 countries around the world, over 600 domestic and 285 international. It is the largest clothing retailer in the United Kingdom, as well as being a food retailer, and as of 2008, the 43rd largest retailer in the world. Most of its domestic stores sell both clothing and food, and since the turn of the century it has started expanding into other ranges such as homewares, furniture and technology.
In 1998 it became the first British retailer to make a pre-tax profit of over £1 billion, though a few years later it plunged into a crisis which lasted for several years.
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Encyclopedia
Marks & Spencer is a major British retailer, with over 840 stores in more than 30 countries around the world, over 600 domestic and 285 international. It is the largest clothing retailer in the United Kingdom, as well as being a food retailer, and as of 2008, the 43rd largest retailer in the world. Most of its domestic stores sell both clothing and food, and since the turn of the century it has started expanding into other ranges such as homewares, furniture and technology.
In 1998 it became the first British retailer to make a pre-tax profit of over £1 billion, though a few years later it plunged into a crisis which lasted for several years. After fostering significant growth in recent years, mid 2008 has seen share prices plunge, worth well under 50% their value of twelve months before, as M&S struggles to cope with more conservative shoppers amidst the credit crunch.
It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
History
Early years
The company was founded by Michael Marks, an immigrant from Minsk (now in Belarus), in 1884 as a single market stall in Leeds. After Thomas Spencer joined the company in 1894 it was known as 'Marks and Spencer'. The site of the first stall is marked with a green and gold commemorative clock in Leeds Kirkgate Market. One of the original Penny Bazaars - in the Grainger Market, Newcastle upon Tyne - remains open to this day, and is now the smallest Marks & Spencer store in operation.
20th century
Marks and Spencer, known colloquially as "Marks and Sparks" or "M and S", made its reputation in the 20th century on a policy of only selling British-made goods. It entered into long term relationships with British manufacturers, and sold clothes and food under the "St Michael" brand (trademark registered in 1928), a name which honours its co-founder Michael Marks. It also accepted the return of unwanted items, giving a full cash refund if the receipt was shown, no matter how long ago the product was purchased. It has now adopted a 90-day returns policy.
By 1950, all goods were sold under the St Michael label. Simon Marks, son of Michael Marks, died in 1964, after 56 years' service to the Company. Israel Sieff took over as Chairman. A cautious international expansion began with the introduction of Asian food in 1974. M&S opened stores in continental Europe in 1975 and in Ireland four years later.
The company put its main emphasis on quality, but for most of its history, it also had a reputation for offering fair value for money. When this reputation began to waver, it encountered serious difficulties. Arguably, M&S has historically been an iconic retailer of 'British Quality Goods'. Its business model required suppliers to commit to long term contracts solely with M&S. This approach often led to over-reliance by manufacturers on the portion of trade they did with M&S. Accordingly, when the M&S fashion buyers changed suppliers on some aspects of the company's retail clothing offering, manufacturers were left dangerously exposed: many became insolvent. This has resulted in a change of climate, and no longer is a contract to supply M&S held up as the panacea it once was.
In 1988 the company acquired Brooks Brothers, an American clothing company and Kings Super Markets, a US food chain. They were subsequently sold off, in 2001 and 2006 respectively.
1997 onwards
M&S's profits peaked in financial year 1997/1998. At the time it was seen as a continuing success story, but with hindsight it is considered that during Sir Richard Greenbury's tenure as head of the company, profit margins were pushed to untenable levels, and the loyalty of its customers was seriously eroded. The rising cost of using British suppliers was also a burden, as rival retailers increasingly imported their goods from low-cost countries, but M&S's belated switch to overseas suppliers undermined a core part of its appeal to the public. Another factor was the company's refusal until 2000 to accept any credit cards except its own store card. In addition, as an ageing and famously bureaucratic company, it was losing touch with potential younger customers, who were reluctant to shop with it. At the same time Greenbury, who had dominated the company, had his attention diverted by the Prime Minister's committee on directors' pay.
These factors combined to plunge M&S into a sudden slump, which took the company, its shareholders, who included hundreds of thousands of small investors, and nearly all retail analysts and business journalists, by surprise. The company's share price fell by more than two thirds, and its profits fell from more than a billion pounds in 1997 and 1998 to £145 million in the year ended 31 March 2001.
Since the late 1990s M&S has experienced serious boardroom instability and has made a number of attempts to revive its business, with only partial success. By 1999, Online Shopping was brought in, and the company grew with new sales of fashion clothing. In 2001, with changes in its business focus such as taking credit cards, the introduction of the "Per Una" clothing range designed by George Davies, accompanied by a redesign of its underlying business model, profits recovered somewhat and M&S recovered some of its market share, but it soon became apparent that problems remained.
In 2004, M&S was in the throes of an attempted takeover by Arcadia Group & Bhs boss, Philip Green. On July 12 a recovery plan was announced which would involve selling off the financial services business to HSBC Bank plc, buying control of the Per Una range, closing the Gateshead Lifestore and stopping the expansion of its Simply Food line of stores. Philip Green withdrew his takeover bid after failing to get sufficient backing from shareholders.
Marks & Spencer was ranked number 17 in The Times "Top 100 Graduate Employers 2008".
Financial performance
Until 1999 M&S's financial year ended on 31 March. Since then, the company has changed to reporting for 52 or 53 week periods, ending on variable dates.
Social and environmental policy
Cut flowers
War on Want criticised Marks & Spencer, along with Tesco and Sainsbury's, in its Growing Pains report for using its influence to squeeze overseas suppliers to constantly reduce their costs while boosting their own profits.
Look Behind the Label
In 2006 the Look Behind the Label marketing campaign was introduced. The aim of this campaign was to highlight to customers, the various ethical and environmentally friendly aspects, of the production and sourcing methods engaged in by M&S including: Fairtrade products, sustainable fishing and environmentally friendly textile dyes. All coffee and tea sold in M&S stores is now Fairtrade. in addition the company offers clothing lines made from Fairtrade Cotton in selected departments.
At Christmas time the company introduces a range of food products to support the housing charity Shelter predominantly in the food to go range including a range of seasonal Christmas sandwiches.
Support for Israel
The company has been criticised for its support for the State of Israel. Former Chairman of M&S, Lord Marcus Sieff, wrote that support for the economic development of Israel was one of the fundamental objectives of Marks and Spencer. Anti-Zionist activists have campaigned against the company and some stores have had their signage altered and their goods re-labelled.
Plan A
On Monday, January 15, 2007, Marks & Spencer launched an initiative, known as , to dramatically increase the environmental sustainability of the business within 5 years and expected to cost £200million .
The plan covers "100 commitments over 5 years to address the key social and environmental challenges facing Marks & Spencer today and in the future" with the tag-line "Because there is no Plan B". The commitments span five themes: climate change, waste, sustainable raw materials, 'fair partnership' and health. , with the aim that, by 2012, it will:
- Become carbon neutral
- Send no waste to landfill
- Extend sustainable sourcing
- Help improve the lives of people in their supply chain
- Help customers and employees live a healthier life-style
Despite an 18% fall in the share price in January 2008, following publication of their latest trading statement, the company confirmed that they would be continuing with the plan, saying that there were 'compelling commercial - as well as moral - reasons to do so'.
May 2008 has seen the introduction of the 5p carrier bag scheme at Marks & Spencer, with customers now paying 5p per standard sized vest carrier bag for food purchases. This implementation was brought about through the scheme, to try to encourage decreasing use of the traditional plastic bag.. All profits from the sale of food bags goes to Groundwork UK.. However, profits have fallen significantly over the end of 2008 and so it seems that they may need to scrap their charge-for-bags policy, as sales have also recently fallen and this may be a factor .
In becoming carbon neutral the company has committed to maximise their use of renewable energy, and to only use carbon offsetting as a last resort. This is apparently to be restricted to cases were required by the Government or where there is no alternative technology currently available.
As of August 2008 Marks & Spencer had three wind turbines in operation, one at Methlick and two near Strichen, generating enough power to supply three stores via the National Grid.
Marketing
During the height of the company's troubles at the beginning of the 21st century, the St Michael brand used as the selling label for all M&S products was discontinued in favour of Marks & Spencer and a new logo in the Optima typeface was introduced and began to appear in place of St Michael on product packaging. The same logo was also rolled out across store fascias and carrier bags. The St Michael name was subsequently adopted as a 'quality guarantee' and appeared as the St Michael Quality Promise on the back of food products, on the side of delivery vehicles and on in-store ordering receipts. This has since been phased out, although the store-ordering receipts given to customers still feature this 'seal of approval' on the bottom.
When Steve Sharp joined as marketing director in 2004, after being hired by new Chief Executive Sir Stuart Rose, he introduced a new promotional brand under the Your M&S banner, with a corresponding logo. This has now become the company's main brand in its advertising, online presence and in-store merchandising. The clean fonts and modern colours of the new image are somewhat incongruous alongside the traditional M&S signage and associated fittings that still adorn many of the unmodernised 'core' stores themselves. In fact the only thing they have in common is the use of M&S traditional green in the ampersand of the new logo. In 2007 the same typeface used for the new M&S logo was adopted to replace the Optima logo used on product packaging and store fascias since 2000. This new logo is also beginning to appear on new-style sewn in clothing labels and presented in its linear, non-stacked form, complete with lime-green ampersand.
The new look has been instrumental in the company's recent resurgence, particularly with the success of a new clothing campaign featuring the celebrated model, Twiggy, and younger models associated with the bohemian styles of 2005-6, and the new TV ad campaign for its food range. These adverts have the tagline "This is not just food, this is M&S food" and feature slow motion, close-up footage of various food products, described in a sultry voiceover by Dervla Kirwan, to an enticing instrumental song - most notably Fleetwood Mac's Albatross as well as Santana's 'Samba Pa Ti', Groove Armada's 'At The River' or Spandau Ballet's 'True'. These adverts have been referred to by both fans and critics as being "food porn", with a number of other companies copying the idea, such as ALDI and, most recently, Waitrose.
New store format
A new store format designed by Urban Salon Architects, has won much praise and is in the process of being rolled out across all stores, with most stores being completed by the end of 2008.
The full new look makeover is a reworking of store design, including the gutting of old stores, and installation of a brighter, more spacious, modern and contemporary design, replacing carpets and laminate floors with white tile throughout (black tile in Foods) thus opening the floor instead of having pathways, having new contemporary white mannequins in new designs and poses, new displays and kit such as new design clothing rails, product stands (formerly known as "Lutons"), display and product walls, window display styles, larger fitting rooms, glass walls, till points, and general total updating of decals, designs, equipment, and lighting.
Several of the old 'Luton' format stores have received what is known internally as a 'Light Touch' re-fit, which involves bringing the store up-to-date with new floors, till points, mannequins, signage etc (actual work differs per store) but not to the extent of a full refurbishment, as mentioned above. This occurs in stores that are subject to re-development/re-location.
Marks and Spencer was the first retailer in the UK to introduce self checkout tills in the food-halls of a small number of trial stores back in 2002. Self Checkout was implemented in the general merchandise sections in 3 trial stores in 2006 and roll-out to flagship stores is in progress.
Products
Womenswear
The Company markets its womenswear under the following brand names:
- Autograph
- Autograph Weekend
- Plus Collection
- Petite Collection
- Limited Collection (Larger stores only)
- Limited Collection Maternity (Larger stores only)
- Perfect
- Per Una
- Per Una Petite (Only available online)
- Portfolio [For 55's & over Headed by Marie Helvin]
- Classic Collection
- Bridal (Only Available Online)
- Long & Tall (Only Available Online)
From early 2008 Plus and petite departments were integrated into their standard size departments so that customers could find the type of clothing they are looking for in one area. However customer feedback means that Plus and Petite may possibly return as separate departments sometime in 2009.
In December 2008 it was confirmed the two new faces of Marks and Spencers Spring campaign would be ex Neighbours star Nicola Charles and Dani Behr.
per una
per una is a range of female clothing sold at Marks & Spencer.
Launched on September 28, 2001 as a joint venture between Marks & Spencer and Next founder George Davies. The brand name means for one (woman) in Italian. All Per Una items include the three hearts logo, inspired by a postcard seen by Davies while on holiday in Italy.
Per Una has been a major success for the company, and in October 2004, Marks & Spencer bought the brand in a £125 million, two-year service contract with George Davies.
Menswear
The Company markets its menswear under the following brand names:
- Blue Harbour - Britain's largest men's casual brand, includes the sub-brands Heritage, Luxury and North Coast
- Autograph - Smart-casual clothing exclusively designed for M&S by designers such as Nigel Hall and Jeffery West.
- Collezione - Formal, Italian inspired clothing.
- Stormwear - Water-repellent clothing, includes denim, shorts, chinos, coats, footwear and suits.
- Big & Tall - Larger sized clothing only available from marksandspencer.com or instore ordering.
Technology
In 2006, the Company launched a range of technology products. A total of 36 stores now offer this range. Additional services offered include television installation and technical help.
Wine
In 2006 and 2007, Marks and Spencer entered over 100 of its own wines into two wine competitions, The Decanter World Wine Awards and The International Wine Challenge. Both years, almost every wine won an award, ranging from the 2005 Secano Pinot Noir, Leyda Valley, Chile (Best Pinot Noir in the world for under £10) to the Rosada Cava (Commended).
Head Office locations
The headquarters of M&S was for 100 years at Michael House, 55 Baker Street, London; during World War II these offices were used by the Special Operations Executive for secret missions in Occupied Europe. In 2004 the company moved to a new headquarters at Waterside House in the new Paddington Basin, London.
As well as the main offices in London, there are a number of other head office sites across the UK; Stockley Park (IT Services), Salford Quays (Marks & Spencer Shared Services Ltd. which provides human resources, and finance administration), Chester (HSBC's M&S Money) and Retail Customer Services), and Draycott (Per Una).
The company has overseas sourcing offices in Hong Kong, India, Bangladesh, Turkey and Sri Lanka.
Stores
M&S have over 600 stores throughout the United Kingdom, with nearly 1.2 million square metres (12.5 million square feet) of selling space. This includes the flagship, and largest, store, Marble Arch, London, on Oxford Street, which has around 16,000 square metres (170,000 square feet) of sales floor. The second largest store is in Warrington, although the forthcoming M&S Megastore in Leeds will take over as the largest outside London. The third largest store is at the Sprucefield Centre in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. The fourth largest store will be the forthcoming branch at Silverburn Centre, Pollok in Glasgow which, since its opening in October 2007, is largest Marks and Spencer store in Scotland. In 2001 Marks & Spencer opened its store in Manchester, Exchange Square which was rebuilt following the 1996 Manchester bombing when the store was destroyed. When the store reopened it was the largest M&S store with of retail space, but half was subseqently sold to upmarket department store Selfridges, the company's second site in Manchester.
In the run up to Christmas 2006, a total of 22 Marks & Spencer stores were open for 24-hour trading including the recently opened new retail park stores at Bolton Middlebrook and at the Abbey Centre, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland.
Store formats
Core Stores
Marks & Spencer's core stores typically feature a selection of the company's clothing ranges and a food hall. The range of clothing sold and the space given to it depends on the store's location and customer demographic (an example would be that some London stores do not stock the Classic Collection, but stock Limited Collection and a full Autograph range).
Hospitality
Most M&S stores feature some sort of hospitality offering, usually in the form of an M&S Cafe. These cafes were formally known as Cafe Revive and many old format stores still brand them as such. The cafe offering typically includes coffees and teas (all fairtrade), pastries, toasted sandwiches, soups and cakes. The company also trialled the opening of an Espresso Bar in some stores, which specialised in drinks only, however these have subsequently been rebranded as M&S Cafes.
Many large stores, such as Westfield White City, Cribbs Causeway and Newcastle, also offer other hospitality outlets, such as a modern Deli Bar (champagne, canapes, seafood), Restaurant (table service) M&S Kitchen (traditional home cooking & lunches) or Hot Food To Go (burgers, chips, soups). Many of these outlets are run in conjunction with Compass and even in smaller stores they also partner up to offer ready made baguettes as part of the standard Food To Go offering.
Simply Food
The Company is in the midst of a programme to open 400 Simply Food stores selling predominantly food but with most also carrying a small selection of general merchandise. The first of the 'Simply Food' stores were in Twickenham and Surbiton.
A number of these stores are run under franchise agreements:
- Select Service Partner (SSP) runs the stores at mainline railway stations and airports
- Moto has stores at several of its motorway service stations
- BP has 116 forecourts with a Simply Food offer
Home Stores
In 2007, Marks & Spencer announced that new, dedicated stores for home furnishings were to be launched. Stores have now been opened in Lisburn in Northern Ireland and in the Barton Square section of The Trafford Centre.
Outlet Stores
Marks & Spencer currently have 29 outlet stores and growth expansion plans for future. The Outlet division offers M&S products with the majority of them at least a 30% discount from their original selling price. The first of these stores opened at Ashford in Kent in 2000.
International stores
There are currently stores located in the following countries: Bahrain, Bermuda, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Gibraltar, Greece, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Republic of Ireland, Indonesia, Jersey, Kuwait, Latvia, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Montenegro, Oman, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and The United Arab Emirates.
Republic of Ireland
Marks & Spencer opened its first store in Ireland on Dublin's Mary Street in 1979 (now part of the Jervis Shopping Centre), then Grafton Street, followed in 1988, Cork in 1989, then in 1996 the Grafton Street location to its present location in the former Brown Thomas store and finally the first out of town store in Liffey Valley in October 1998. There are now 18 Republic of Ireland stores, including three Simply Food stores. The new Grafton Street store now boasts Marks and Spencer's only 'The Restaurant' concept outside of the UK. The newest store having opened in Killarney on the 9th of May, 2008. The Irish stores use a similar format and product line to the UK stores, including use of the M&S logo (which at Liffey Valley is the only logo used on exterior signs since a June 2007 refit and since opening in Killarney).
The company is committed to the expansion of it's Irish operations with a number of new stores due to open this year (2009) including; Sligo, Clonmel, Navan, Limerick which when opened will be one of the largest stores in Ireland at 110,000sqft but will be overtaken shortly after by a new store in Swords North Dublin at 130,000sqft of floor space.
The Company's largest stores in Ireland are at the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre located in Lucan/Clondalkin in South Dublin, at Mary Street in Dublin City Centre and at Dundrum Town Centre in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown.
History
All international stores are operated under franchise, with the exception of the stores in the Republic of Ireland and Hong Kong which remain in company ownership.
The first M&S store in central Asia was built in Kabul, Afghanistan in the 1960s. The store was later shut down.
M&S expanded into Canada in 1973, and at one point had 47 stores across Canada. Despite various efforts to improve its image, the chain was never able to move beyond its reputation there as a stodgy retailer, one that catered primarily to senior citizens and expatriate Britons. The stores in Canada were smaller than British outlets, and did not carry the same selection. In the late 1990s, further efforts were made to modernize the stores and expand the customer base, and unprofitable locations were closed. Nonetheless, the Canadian operations continued to lose money, and the last 38 stores in Canada were closed in 1999.
Expansion into France began with stores opening in Paris at Boulevard Haussmann and Lyon in 1975, followed by a second Paris store at Rosny 2 in 1977. Further expansion into other French and Belgian cities followed into the 1980s. Although the Paris stores remained popular and profitable, the whole of the Western European operation did not fare as well and 18 stores were sold in 2001.
In February 2007, M&S announced the opening of the world’s largest M&S store outside the UK at Dubai Festival City.
On October 2, 2008, M&S opened its first mainland China store in Shanghai. Problems with the supply chain for the first few months of opening led Stewart Rose, M&S chairman, to describe failures in “basic shopkeeping”.
Senior management
The following have served as the Chairman of the Company since it was founded:
- 1884-1907: Michael Marks (set up first stall in Leeds in 1884)
- 1907-1916: William Chapman.
- 1916-1964: Simon Marks (Lord Marks)
- 1964-1967: Israel Sieff (Lord Sieff)
- 1967-1972: Edward Sieff
- 1972-1984: Marcus Sieff (Lord Sieff)
- 1984-1991: Derek Rayner (Lord Rayner)
- 1991-1999: Sir Richard Greenbury
- 2000-2004: Luc Vandevelde
- 2004-2006: Paul Myners
- 2006-2009: Lord Burns
- 2009 - onwards: Sir Stuart Rose
External links
M&S International Accounts
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