Another famous high-end store in England is closing 27 of its stores due to continued revenue and profit downtrend. Marks &Spencer announce the other day that it is also cutting 1,200 employees as a result of the closure of the affected stores.
The world-famous high end store is closing 27 of its shops in England and cut more than 1,200 jobs. The announcement came after the store suffered a seven per cent drop in profits during the Christmas holidays.
Mail Online: ‘The retailer announced it will shut 25 Simply Food stores and two of its smaller M&S outlets. It is the store’s biggest collapse since July-September 1999 and was despite heavy price-cutting in the run-up Christmas.
Traditional branches of the high-street chain in the valley park, Croydon and Woking, Surrey will be shot down, although no dates for the closures have yet been given.
Late last year, the century-old Woolworths of England suffered the same fate when it decided to close shop as a result of shrinking revenues brought about by the world economic slowdown.
The unexpected announcement caught some employees by surprise, saying that they were shocked by the numbers affected and did not anticipate stores closures.
Cost cutting measures are being looked into by M&S management including the employees new pension scheme which will save the company at least 200 million pounds.
M&S Chief Executive Officer Sir Stuart Rose said’ We are aware that the proposed changes will be difficult for those members and staff impacted, but given that we expect challenging economic conditions to continue for at least the next 12 months, we believe we are taking the right action to maintain the strength of our business’.
