Marks & Spencer is set to close 30 stores after reporting a £201m loss thanks to the pandemic.
The loss for the year to 27 March, compared a profit of £67m for the previous twelve months comes after like-for-like clothing and home sales fell by 31 per cent, Sky News reports.
The retailer will also be shifting focus on clothing from formal outfits to athleisure wear as part of recovery plans.
A one-off cost of £243m contributed to the overall loss of the year. This was as a result of an acceleration of plans to “address the drag of legacy stores unsuitable for modern trading or in declining locations”.
M&S currently has just over 250 “full-line” stores, which it looks to cut to 180. Some stores will be switched to food only, others moved to different locations, while around 30 will close, it said.
However, M&S is planning 17 new or expanded full-line shops over the next two years, including a number of sites that were previously part of Debenhams.
Food revenues grew by 1.3 per cent. And, the retailer’s joint venture with Ocado delivered a £78m boost to its bottom line.
M&S reported a total of £88m COVID costs as a result of pandemic safety measures and bonuses for non-furloughed staff.
Share