Marks & Spencer is to cut 950 jobs at its head office and stores, in the latest blow to UK high street retailers hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The latest cuts – to store management posts as well as property and operational roles in head office – follow job losses relating to the closure of 54 stores in the past year or so. Nearly 70 more closures have already been announced, affecting hundreds more jobs. Sacha Berendji, the M&S director of retail, operations and property, said the changes were intended to create more adaptable management structures. “Through the crisis we have seen how we can work faster and more flexibly by empowering store teams and it’s essential that we embed that way of working. Our priority now is to support all those affected through the consultation process and beyond.” The cuts come at a torrid time for the British high street, with thousands of job losses announced this month. John Lewis and Boots reported 1,300 and 4,000 job losses respectively, including store closures, while companies including the Topshop owner Arcadia, furniture chain Harveys and menswear retailer TM Lewin have confirmed plans for thousands of redundancies. The fashion retailer Ted Baker is preparing to axe at least 500 jobs – more than a quarter of its UK workforce. This is in addition to the 160 job cuts announced in February. On Monday the luggage brand Antler’s online business and brand was bought out of administration by an arm of its former owner ATR, saving about 15 jobs but with the loss of about 20. ATR, which is controlled by the South African fashion tycoon Michael Lewis, the fiance of Princess Diana’s niece Kitty Spencer, put Antler into administration in May with the loss of 164 jobs at the brand’s 19 high street outlets. While shoppers are returning to the high street, the number of people out and about is still 40% below last year, according to figures from analysts Springboard on Monday. London is suffering even more, with shopper numbers down 71%. Diane Wehrle, the insights director at Springboard, said more people were visiting high streets week on week but the pace of growth had halved to a 4.5% increase. “Last week demonstrated that the longed-for flood of shoppers returning to bricks and mortar destinations and retail stores once again became a trickle,” she said. M&S’s food shops remained open throughout the lockdown but trading in other parts of the business was severely reduced, with clothing sales down by 84% year on year at the lowest point, the company said in May. The retailer has suffered as shoppers have switched away from buying more expensive formal clothing, such as suits, to comfier and cheaper items such as pyjamas. The retailer furloughed approximately 27,000 of its 78,000 employees during the lockdown. Many have returned to work, but the chief executive warned of permanent changes to shopping habits. Steve Rowe said: “While some customer habits will return to normal, others have changed for ever. The trend towards digital has been accelerated and changes to the shape of the high street brought forward.” The retailer was already looking at ways to adjust to increased online sales and the decline of the high street. At the onset of the coronavirus crisis M&S said it was considering cost savings including a “more streamlined support centre, changes to leadership structure and negotiations with landlords on commercial terms on lease contracts.” Under the title “Never the same again”, M&S said it was reviewing the number of employees at all levels, and giving in-store staff more responsibilities. To ease cashflow pressures, M&S secured an agreement with its banks to relax the conditions on a £1.1bn line of credit, and cancelled its dividend to investors. It also borrowed £300m under the government’s Covid-19 corporate finance facility.
