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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Business
Emma Munbodh

M&S to start selling 11 high street fashion brands online in bid to lift sales

Marks & Spencer will start selling clothes from 11 rival brands this year in a bid to boost its online sales.

The retail giant has signed deals with high street chains Joules, Triumph and Hobbs as it seeks to "turbocharge" growth and cash in on a surge in online shoping.

It comes after the business reported its first loss in its 94 year history - revealing Covid had wiped £87.6million from sales in just six months.

Jack & Jones, Phase Eight, Seasalt Cornwall, Sloggi and White Stuff will also join its online concessions - meaning they will be added to M&S.com under the banner 'Brands at M&S' over the next three months.

They will appear alongside other M&S items, while its own 'Classics' and 'Limited' ranges are being cut.

They are an extension of the high street giant's new strategy of selling third-party brands, with existing tie-ups with the likes of Nobody's Child and Ghost, and kidswear names including Ben Sherman and Original Penguin.

(PA)

The retailer said the move, part of its "Never the Same Again" programme, aimed to make its clothing business more relevant to customers.

Almost 10% of customers who bought from the Nobody's Child line were new to M&S womenswear, it said.

The shake-up follows a decision to cut  7,000 jobs across stores and management last year.

M&S director of brands Neil Harrison said: "As part of our Never the Same Again programme, we're pleased to be introducing guest brands throughout the spring onto M&S.com as part of our plans to turbocharge online growth."

Last year, M&S warned its clothing and home arm would be "severely constrained" by Covid.

It had already been grappling with years of disappointing trading in its clothing and home arm and had been looking to restructure the group to focus more on online sales.

Bosses revealed in January that sales in the three months to December 26 fell 7.6% on a like-for-like basis, with the food division growing 2.6%, but clothing and home sales dropped 24.1%, following Covid-19 restrictions.

The move comes as rival chain Next announced it has purchased a 25% stake in upmarket fashion brand Reiss.

The UK's largest clothing retail chain will pay £33million for the holding and lend Reiss a further £10million to help it recover from the pandemic.

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