July AGM will see these two women re-appointed by shareholder vote ( although as with many Co's the Proxy-Vote is kept in case the public shareholders make a wrong choice.)... I just hope these aren't being included to reduce the ratio M/F... It is surprising that a Co which tries to sell clothes to Women, fails to have women of that age on the Board. I presume, but cannot be certain, the young buyers are mostly women - but want to offer designs that are close to "in fashion" - with no regard to the needs of the older customers that need a degree of support and evasion to look good at the end of a long day's shopping with the grandchildren.
I heard on the radio M&S were to shut many stores as a re-organisation programme . . . yet I only see RNS dealing with these appointments . . . . maybe I need to delve deeper . . . but why bother? This Co isn't going to change overnight -and the effect of any change will be quite slow . . . . the do no have anyone to effect a radical change from their past-working.
I haven't shopped for food in M&S for ages now so won't miss them much.
We used to buy their Indian and Chinese 'deals' but stopped a couple of years ago when they changed their supplier - to the negative.
I would take a guess I last bought some clothes from them, roughly back in about 2010.
One recipe for success in any business is to try to use the formula, 'Different, Better Cheaper'. A combination of offering just two of these creates a certain winning formula but M&S don't even have one of these criteria, IMHO. They are the same or worse and more expensive with most things they sell.
At one time they were famous for 'underwear' but their men's underpants nowadays are most reliable for failing to stay up and are truly useless. If you don't believe me, ask Jeremy Paxman. He really took them to task about it several years ago but nothing was changed.
Broker Forecast - HSBC issues a broker note on Marks & Spencer Group PLC
BFN
HSBC today downgrades its investment rating on Marks & Spencer Group PLC (LON:MKS) to hold (from buy) and cut its price target to 300p (from 400p).
Story provided by StockMarketWire.com
Broker Forecasts data provided by www.sharesmagazine.co.uk
FWIW - It's all very good "closing Stores" ( which implies they are unprofitable for some reason that wasn't present when they were opened )..... but the word on the street is that their food is overpriced and their clothing is neither fashionable nor good-value.
Combine these and investors might think Management needs to look itself in the mirror "What am I contributing that will correct this?" Fact is that M&S has relied on "Food" to bolster the clothing, which appears not to satisfy many women ( typically 90% of clothing sales). Closing shops will reduce Rents/Wages but it loses the contact with CUSTOMERS - as I suspect ( but cannot know), most like to feel/touch before buying . . . and are not really "On-Line Buyers" - I wonder how many stores assistants have been training their customers so they could use the Internet? I suspect none - as M&S would fear Folks will go for apparent "better-Value" elsewhere. sp=286.
Oh Deary....
My wife says that the Bluewater store - probably one of their biggest , has nothing of interest in the women's clothing department - I must admit (to my male eye) it does look pretty unappealing.