Marks & Spencer will axe 7,000 jobs in the next three months
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Marks & Spencer will axe 7,000 jobs across UK stores in the next three months after sales were hit by coronavirus crisis
By Mark Duell for MailOnline
Published: | Updated:
Around 7,000 jobs are being axed at retail giant Marks & Spencer as part of a further shake-up of its stores and management in the face of the coronavirus crisis.
The group said the roles were set to go over the next three months across shops, regional management and its support centre.
M&S expects a ‘significant’ number of roles will be cut through voluntary departures and early retirement while it said it will also create some jobs through investing further in online warehousing and its new ambient food warehouse.
Marks & Spencer has said it plans to cut around 7,000 jobs over the next three months
It comes as M&S revealed total sales in its hard-hit clothing and home arm plunged 29.9 per cent in the eight weeks since shops reopened.
Store sales fell 47.9 per cent but online surged 39.2 per cent. It said sales declines were improving but that it was ‘clear that there has been a material shift in trade’.
‘Whilst it is too early to predict with precision where a new post-Covid sales mix will settle, we must act now to reflect this change,’ the company said.
Chief executive Steve Rowe said: ‘In May we outlined our plans to learn from the crisis, accelerate our transformation and deliver a stronger, more agile business in a world in which some customer habits were changed forever.
M&S GROUP REVENUE BY DEPARTMENT (% CHANGE TO LAST YEAR)
DEPARTMENT
19 WEEKS TO AUGUST 8
13 WEEKS TO AUGUST 8
8 WEEKS TO AUGUST 8
Clothing & Home
-49.5
-38.5
-29.9
Food
-1.1
2.5
2.5
International
-31.9
-24.6
-19.9
Group
-19.2
-13.2
-10
Clothing & Home.com
32
42.2
39.2
M&S.com
38.9
46.9
40.7
‘Three months on and our Never the Same Again programme is progressing; albeit the outlook is uncertain and we remain cautious.
‘As part of our Never The Same Again programme to embed the positive changes in ways of working through the crisis, we are today announcing proposals to further streamline store operations and management structures.
‘These proposals are an important step in becoming a leaner, faster business set up to serve changing customer needs and we are committed to supporting colleagues through this time.’
How more than 173,000 jobs have now been lost or are at risk amid the coronavirus pandemic
M&S has become the latest employer to cut large numbers of jobs, saying it plans to cut around 7,000 over the next three months across stores.
It follows cuts announced by fellow retailer John Lewis, sushi chain Yo! and clothing store River Island last week.
Here are the major potential job losses announced since the coronavirus lockdown was imposed on March 23:
Total: 173,719
August 18 – M&S – 700
August 17: easyJet: 670
August 17: Jet2: 102
August 14 – John Lewis – 399 at risk
August 14 – Yo! Sushi – 250
August 14 – River Island – 350
August 12 – NatWest – 550
August 11 – InterContinental Hotels – 650 worldwide
August 11 – Debenhams – 2,500
August 7 – Evening Standard – 115
August 6 – Travelex – 1,300
August 6 – Wetherspoons – 110 to 130
August 5 – M&Co – 380
August 5 – Arsenal FC – 55
August 5 – WH Smith – 1,500
August 4 – Dixons Carphone – 800
August 4 – Pizza Express – 1,100 at risk
August 3 – Hays Travel – up to 878
August 3 – DW Sports – 1,700 at risk
July 31 – Byron – 651
July 30 – Pendragon – 1,800
July 29 – Waterstones – unknown number of head office roles
July 28 – Selfridges – 450
July 27 – Oak Furnitureland – 163 at risk
July 23 – Dyson – 600 in UK, 300 overseas
July 22 – Mears – fewer than 200
July 20 – Marks & Spencer – 950 at risk
July 17 – Azzurri Group (owns Zizzi and Ask Italian) – up to 1,200
July 16 – Genting – 1,642 at risk
July 16 – Burberry – 150 in UK, 350 overseas
July 15 – Banks Mining – 250 at risk
July 15 – Buzz Bingo – 573 at risk
July 14 – Vertu – 345
July 14 – DFS – up to 200 at risk
July 9 – General Electric – 369
July 9 – Eurostar – unknown number
July 9 – Boots – 4,000
July 9 – John Lewis – 1,300 at risk
July 9 – Burger King – 1,600 at risk
July 7 – Reach (owns Daily Mirror and Daily Express newspapers) – 550
July 6 – Pret a Manger – 1,000 at risk
July 2 – Casual Dining Group (owns Bella Italia and Cafe Rouge) – 1,909
July 1 – SSP (owns Upper Crust) – 5,000 at risk
July 1 – Arcadia (owns TopShop) – 500
July 1 – Harrods – 700
July 1 – Virgin Money – 300
June 30 – Airbus – 1,700
June 30 – TM Lewin – 600
June 30 – Smiths Group – ‘some job losses’
June 25 – Royal Mail – 2,000
June 24 – Jet2 – 102
June 24 – Swissport – 4,556
June 24 – Crest Nicholson – 130
June 23 – Shoe Zone – unknown number of jobs in head office
June 19 – Aer Lingus – 500
June 17 – HSBC – unknown number of jobs in UK, 35,000 worldwide
June 15 – Jaguar Land Rover – 1,100
June 15 – Travis Perkins – 2,500
June 12 – Le Pain Quotidien – 200
June 11 – Heathrow – at least 500
June 11 – Bombardier – 600
June 11 – Johnson Matthey – 2,500
June 11 – Centrica – 5,000
June 10 – Quiz – 93
June 10 – The Restaurant Group (owns Frankie and Benny’s) – 3,000
June 10 – Monsoon Accessorise – 545
June 10 – Everest Windows – 188
June 8 – BP – 10,000 worldwide
June 8 – Mulberry – 375
June 5 – Victoria’s Secret – 800 at risk
June 5 – Bentley – 1,000
June 4 – Aston Martin – 500
June 4 – Lookers – 1,500
May 29 – Belfast International Airport – 45
May 28 – Debenhams (in second announcement) – ‘hundreds’ of jobs
May 28 – EasyJet – 4,500 worldwide
May 26 – McLaren – 1,200
May 22 – Carluccio’s – 1,000
May 21 – Clarks – 900
May 20 – Rolls-Royce – 9,000
May 20 – Bovis Homes – unknown number
May 19 – Ovo Energy – 2,600
May 19 – Antler – 164
May 15 – JCB – 950 at risk
May 13 – Tui – 8,000 worldwide
May 12 – Carnival UK (owns P&O Cruises and Cunard) – 450
