Marks and Spencer confirmed it plans to cut 525 head office jobs as it attempts to make £30 million savings. Workers on the shop floor will not be affected.
Steve Rowe, Marks and Spencer chief executive said: “M&S has to become a simpler and more effective organisation if we are to deliver our plans to recover and grow our business.
“It is never easy to propose changes that impact on our people, but I believe that the proposals outlined today are absolutely necessary and will help us build a different type of M&S - one that can take bolder, pacier decisions, be more profitable and ultimately better serve our customers.”
“We remain committed to investing in store staffing and improving our customer experience and therefore our store colleagues are not affected by this proposal.”
The job losses come as the troubled retailer bids to revive its fortunes after a series of disappointing results. Declining clothes and homeware sales have been a particular concern, offset to some extent by strong food revenues.
Rowe, who took the helm in April, has wasted no time in wielding the axe. The new chief executive said that the cuts, which mainly affect IT and logistics workers, will allow the business to work “more simply and efficiently.”
Rowe, who began working as a prt-time shop assistant in its Croydon store in the 1980s, is expected to unveil a turnaround plan in November.
Experts expect him to sell stores as intense competition from online rivals hit M&S's market share.
On Friday, Marks and Spencer caved in to pressure from MPs, workers and customers, agreeing to increase wages of shop floor staff to £8.50.
Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh, who handed in a 90,000-name petition to the company yesterday, criticised the announcement, saying staff will earn no more money in three years' time than they do today. The new deal reduces rates for Sunday working and overtime, which many employees rely on.
Campaigners had warned that thousands of staff would lose more than £1,000 a year under planned changes to pay.
“It would be a betrayal to loyal staff, many with more than two or three decades' professional experience, to say that this is a very good offer for them,“ McDonagh said.
