Marks & Spencer's new chairman to ramp up transformation

Marks & Spencer 's new chairman Archie Norman has given his verdict on the high street retailer in an internal report, details of which were published in the press over the weekend, saying it needs to target a younger customer, be more agile and further shake up its store estate.

According to reports in The Guardian, Norman, the former Asda chief and retail turnaround specialist, has said the retailer is not offering enough fashion for the 35-plus customer (instead there is too much focus on the 55-plus customer) and it needs to speed up its buying cycles. He also stated that its entry price-points were not low enough and that it lacked the fashionability of rivals such as Zara.

Archie Norman: "not enough fashion for 35-plus customer"

Norman, who made his name in the 1990s by turning around Asda and introducing its George clothing line, joined Marks & Spencer two months ago, replacing former chairman Robert Swannell. He is working in partnership with CEO Steve Rowe, who has spent his career at M&S and who was promoted to the position of CEO last year following the departure of Marc Bolland.

Rowe had previously announced a turnaround plan for M&S which included a significant reduction in the amount of selling space dedicated to clothing and a ramp up in openings for its Simply Food outlets. A year ago Rowe confirmed that the business planned to transform its retail estate which would result in circa 60 fewer Clothing & Home stores over the next five years. This would be achieved through around 30 store closures and the conversion of some stores into food-only outlets.

Analysts however are anticipating a more aggressive shake-up of its stores to be announced when Rowe updates the market on its first-half trading on Wednesday. It is also expected to reveal a circa 10% drop in pre-tax profits to £201m.

New Clothing & Home chief Jill McDonald

M&S recently lost director of clothing and beauty Jo Jenkins who announced last month that she would be leaving the retailer to join White Stuff as CEO. Her departure came just as new managing director of clothing and home, into whom Jenkins would report, Jill McDonald arrived at the business. McDonald was formerly CEO of Halfords and took over the reins of the Clothing & Home business from Rowe who had been overseeing the division on an interim basis since his promotion to CEO last year.