M&S announces proposals to accelerate the transformation of its retail management structure

At its full year results in May, M&S outlined plans to accelerate the pace and scale of the transformation plan and make three years’ progress in one. As part of this, the business committed to integrate more flexible management structures into its store operations. M&S is now proposing to implement these changes and create a new retail management structure that is fit for the future—removing role duplication, providing clearer leadership accountabilities and freeing up its retail teams to focus more on the customer.

The proposed changes would affect 950 roles across central support functions in field and central operations and property and store management. M&S has now started collective consultation with its employee representative group and has set out its intention to first offer voluntary redundancy to affected colleagues.

Sacha Berendji, Director of Retail, Operations and Property at M&S said: “Our proposals reflect an important next step in our Never the Same Again programme to accelerate our transformation and become a stronger, leaner and more resilient business. Through the crisis we have seen how we can work faster and more flexibly by empowering store teams and it’s essential that we embed that way of working. Our priority now is to support all those affected through the consultation process and beyond.”