Southport’s M&S may be axed in company revamp
Marks & Spencer is reported to be planning closures of dozens of high street stores meaning that the Southport branch could be at risk.
Sources to OTSNews.co.uk have revealed that the Chapel Street store is currently only recruiting part-time, temporary staff and could be one of the shops to be relocated or transformed from clothing outlets to food stores.
In recent months M&S stores across the UK have undergone a major revamp to make improvements, shaped by feedback from more than 250,000 customers nationwide.
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Sky News revealed yesterday that Steve Rowe, who took the helm at M&S earlier this year, will announce next week that a substantial chunk of its UK store portfolio is to be reorganised, a move that will include the outright closure of a significant number of shops.
Sources said on Friday that the closures, which will take place over several years, would number “in the low dozens”, while other stores will see space reallocated from clothing to its more successful food operations.
A number of other stores are expected to be relocated.
That will mean M&S’s clothing range being sold in a substantially smaller number of shops, which one retail analyst described as “a seismic shift” for the company.
The closures and broader property reorganisation are likely to result in a significant one-off charge, insiders said.
Mr Rowe will announce his decisions as part of a wider strategy review aimed at convincing investors that he has a plan to transform M&S’s recent lacklustre performance.
Since taking over from Marc Bolland in April, Mr Rowe has proposed axing more than 500 head office jobs in an attempt to exert a tighter grip on its cost-base.
The OTSNews group contacted the Southport store and they declined to comment at the present time.
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