Marks & Spencer

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Marks & Spencer
Company typePublic (LSE: MKS,Template:OTCBB)
ISINUS57069PAD42 Edit this on Wikidata
IndustryRetailer
FoundedUnited Kingdom Leeds, England (1884)
HeadquartersUnited Kingdom London, England, UK
Key people
Michael Marks, co-founder
Thomas Spencer, co-founder
Sir Stuart Rose, Chief Executive
ProductsClothing, food, household items, coffee shop, furniture, technology
RevenueIncrease £9.022 billion GBP (2007)
Increase £1.211 billion GBP (2008)
Increase £1.007 billion GBP (2008)
Number of employees
75,871 (2007)
Websitewww.marksandspencer.com

Marks & Spencer (also M&S, Marks and Sparks and Marks') is a British retailer, with 760 stores in more than 30 countries around the world. It is one of the most iconic and widely recognised chain stores in the United Kingdom, and is the largest clothing retailer in the country, as well as being a multi-billion pound food retailer, and as of 2008, the 43rd largest retailer in the world.[1][2] Most of its 520[3] domestic stores sell both clothing and food, and since the turn of the century it has started expanding into other ranges such as homewares and furniture.

In 1998 it became the first British retailer to make a pre-tax profit of over £1 billion,[4] though a few years later it plunged into a crisis which lasted for several years. As of 2007, it was growing again and rapidly increasing profitability, under the Your M&S brand.

History

Early years (1884 onwards)

File:Marksentrance.jpg
A Marks and Spencer store decorated for Christmas

The company was based upon a single market stall in Leeds created by the sole trader Michael Marks (immigrant from Minsk, Belarus). After Thomas Spencer joined the company in 1894 it was known as 'Marks and Spencer'. The site of the first stall is marked with a green and gold commemorative clock in Leeds Kirkgate Market. One of the original Penny Bazaars - in the Grainger Market, Newcastle upon Tyne - remains open to this day, and is now the smallest Marks & Spencer store in operation.[5]

20th century

Marks and Spencer, known colloquially as M&S or "M and S" made its reputation in the 20th century on a policy of only selling British-made goods. It entered into long term relationships with British manufacturers, and sold clothes and food under the "St Michael" brand (trademark registered in 1928). It also accepted the return of unwanted items, giving a full cash refund if the receipt was shown, no matter how long ago the product was purchased. It has now adopted a 90-day returns policy.

File:Marksandspencer logoold.jpg
Logo used in the 1980s and 1990s

By 1950, all goods were sold under the St Michael label. Simon Marks died In 1964, after 56 years' service to the Company. Israel Sieff took over as Chairman. A cautious international expansion began with the introduction of Asian food in 1974. M&S opened stores in continental Europe in 1975 and in Ireland four years later.

The company put its main emphasis on quality, but for most of its history, it also had a reputation for offering fair value for money. When this reputation began to waver, it encountered serious difficulties. Arguably, M&S has historically been an iconic retailer of 'British Quality Goods'. Its business model required suppliers to commit to long term contracts solely with M&S. This approach often led to over-reliance by manufacturers on the portion of trade they did with M&S. Accordingly, when the M&S fashion buyers changed suppliers on some aspects of the company's retail clothing offering, manufacturers were left dangerously exposed: many became insolvent. This has resulted in a change of climate, and no longer is a contract to supply M&S held up as the panacea it once was.

In 1988 the company acquired Brooks Brothers, an American clothing company and Kings Super Markets, a US food chain. Both were subsequently sold off in 2001 and 2006 respectively.

1997 onwards

M&S's profits peaked in financial year 1997/1998. At the time it was seen as a continuing success story, but with hindsight it is considered that during Sir Richard Greenbury's tenure as head of the company, profit margins were pushed to untenable levels, and the loyalty of its customers was seriously eroded. The rising cost of using British suppliers was also a burden, as rival retailers increasingly imported their goods from low-cost countries, but M&S's belated switch to overseas suppliers undermined a core part of its appeal to the public. Another factor was the company's refusal to accept any credit cards except its own store card. In addition, as an ageing and famously bureaucratic company, it was losing touch with potential younger customers, who were reluctant to shop with it.

These factors combined to plunge M&S into a sudden slump, which took the company, its shareholders, who included hundreds of thousands of small investors, and nearly all retail analysts and business journalists, by surprise. The company's share price fell by more than two thirds, and its profits fell from more than a billion pounds in 1997 and 1998 to £145 million in the year ended 31 March 2001.

File:M&S logo.png
M&S Logo, 2004-Present

Since the late 1990s M&S has experienced serious boardroom instability and has made a number of attempts to revive its business, with only partial success. By 1999, Online Shopping was brought in, and the company grew with new sales of fashion clothing. In 2001, with changes in its business focus such as the introduction of the "Per Una" clothing range designed by George Davies, accompanied by a redesign of its underlying business model, profits recovered somewhat and M&S recovered some of its market share, but it soon became apparent that problems remained. Other changes to tradition included accepting credit cards and opening its stores on Sunday.

In 2004, M&S was in the throes of an attempted takeover by Arcadia Group & Bhs boss, Philip Green. On July 12 a recovery plan was announced which would involve selling off the financial services business to HSBC Bank plc, buying control of the Per Una range, closing the Gateshead Lifestore and stopping the expansion of its Simply Food line of stores. Philip Green withdrew his takeover bid after failing to get sufficient backing from shareholders. Philip Green's offer to the shareholders in 2004 of £4 a share, has been recently made to look feeble by M&S's current revival. Since June 2005 the share price has almost doubled from 319p a share to a high of 766 in May 2007.

In February 2008, M&S announced plans to charge customers 5p for each plastic bag they use, ostensibly for environmental purposes and to fund public infrastructure. All profits from the sale of food bags goes to Groundwork UK.[6]

Chairmen

Financial performance

Until 1999 M&S's financial year ended on 31 March. Since then, the company has changed to reporting for 52 or 53 week periods, ending on variable dates.

Year ended Turnover (£ M) Profit before tax (£ M) Net profit (£ M) Basic eps (p)
31 March 2007 8,588.1 936.7 659.9 39.1
1 April 2006 7,797.7 745.7 520.6 36.4
2 April 2005 7,490.5 505.1 355.0 29.1
3 April 2004 8,301.5 781.6 452.3 24.2
29 March 2003 8,019.1 677.5 480.5 20.7
30 March 2002 8,135.4 335.9 153 5.4
31 March 2001 8,075.7 145.5 2.8 0.0
1 April 2000 8,195.5 417.5 258.7 9.0
31 March 1999 8,224.0 546.1 372.1 13.0
31 March 1998 8,243.3 1,155.0 815.9 28.6
31 March 1997 7,841.9 1,102.1 746.6 26.7
31 March 1996 7,233.7 965.8 652.6 455.8

Social and environmental marketing

Look Behind the Label

In 2006 the Look Behind the Label marketing campaign was introduced.[8] The aim of this campaign was to highlight to customers, the various ethical and environmentally friendly aspects, of the production and sourcing methods engaged in by M&S including: Fairtrade products, sustainable fishing and environmentally friendly textile dyes. All coffee and tea sold in M&S stores is now Fairtrade.[9], in addition the company offers clothing lines made from Fairtrade Cotton in selected departments[10]

The company is also looking at how stores can be made more environmentally friendly and in particular the materials used when fitting out stores, for example using flooring made from natural rubber. As well as looking to source electricity from environmentally friendly sources.

At Christmas time the company introduces a range of food products to support the housing charity Shelter[11] predominantly in the food to go range including a range of seasonal Christmas sandwiches.

The considerable savings are achieved via a combination of powering the store with green renewable energy, improving air tightness to minimise heat and energy loss and installing more efficient systems and equipment across lighting, refrigeration and heating and ventilation. As well as the 'eco-features', all suppliers who were contracted to the project worked in a 'greener', more efficient way. This included operating a green travel plan for all construction traffic and managing waste materials to ensure that they were recycled where possible.

Plan A

In January 2007, Marks & Spencer launched 'Plan A', a set of "100 commitments over 5 years to address the key social and environmental challenges facing Marks & Spencer today and in the future", with the tag-line "Because there is no Plan B". The commitments span five themes: climate change, waste, sustainable raw materials, 'fair partnership' and health.[12]

Marketing

St Michael Logo

In the late 1990s, the St Michael brand was discontinued in favour of Marks & Spencer. When Steve Sharp joined as marketing director in 2004, after being hired by new Chief Executive Sir Stuart Rose, he introduced a new promotional brand under the Your M&S banner, with a corresponding logo.[13] This has now become the company's main brand in its advertising, online presence and in-store merchandising. The clean fonts and modern colours of the new image are somewhat incongruous alongside the traditional M&S signage and associated fittings that still adorn many of the unmodernised 'core' stores themselves. In fact the only thing they have in common is the use of M&S traditional green in the ampersand of the new logo. The Your M&S tagline and logo is not used on new store facias however, as it is a fixed-term marketing tool, rather than a rebrand of the company name. New stores or those that are remodelled feature either the M&S portion of this logo or the full Marks & Spencer name in the same typeface and colour way, depending on the size of the store.

This may seem confusing at first, but the new look has been instrumental in the company's recent resurgence, particularly with the success of a new clothing campaign featuring the celebrated model, Twiggy, and younger models associated with the bohemian styles of 2005-6, and the new TV ad campaign for its food range. These adverts have the tagline "This is not just food, this is M&S food" and feature slow motion, close-up footage of various food products, described in a sultry voiceover by Dervla Kirwan, to an enticing instrumental song - most notably Fleetwood Mac's Albatross as well as Santana's 'Samba Pa Ti' or Groove Armada's 'At The River'. These adverts have been referred to by both fans and critics as being "food porn", with a number of other companies copying the idea, such as ALDI.

New store format

New Town Plaza, Hong Kong

A new store format designed by Urban Salon Architects,[14] has won much praise and is in the process of being rolled out across all stores, with most stores being completed by the end of 2008.

The full new look makeover is a drastic reworking of store design, including the gutting of old stores, and installation of a brighter, more spacious, modern and contemporary design, replacing carpets and laminate floors with white tile throughout (black tile in Foods) thus opening the floor instead of having pathways, having new contemporary white mannequins in new designs and poses, new displays and kit such as new design clothing rails, product stands (formerly known as "Lutons"), display and product walls, window display styles, larger fitting rooms, glass walls, till points, and general total updating of decals, designs, equipment, and lighting.

Several of the old 'Luton' format stores have received what is known internally as a 'Light Touch' re-fit, which involves bringing the store up-to-date with new floors, till points, mannequins, signage etc (actual work differs per store) but not to the extent of a full refurbishment, as mentioned above. This occurs in stores that are subject to re-development.

M&S Online

On 23 March 2007, Marks & Spencer made significantly more of its products available online when it launched a new web store in partnership with Amazon, one of the world's largest online retailers. The move supports Sir Stuart Rose's goal of quickly doubling the company's online sales. The site combines Marks & Spencer products, online content and branding with Amazon features such as 'wish lists', '1-click ordering' and 'account management tools'.

In addition, customers can now view their M&S Money account online; allowing them to check their M&S credit card balance and pay bills.

Marks and Spencer's internet revenue in 2007 was reported as £100m.[citation needed]

Self check-out

Marks and Spencer was the first retailer in the UK to introduced self checkout tills in the food-halls of a small number of trial stores back in 2002. Self Checkout was implemented in the GM (general merchandise) sections in 3 trial stores in 2006 and roll-out to flagship stores is in progress. Trial of a Self Returns till in one store from October 2007 - February 2008 should pave the way for future applications of the self checkout technology. The tills allow customers to scan, pack and pay for their own goods by cash or credit cards without the aid of a cashier but with the knowledge that a member of staff is still on hand at all times to offer help and authorise age-restricted sales.

Products

Womenswear

  • Autograph
  • Autograph Weekend
  • Plus Collection
  • Petite Collection
  • Limited Collection Maternity
  • Per Una
  • Per Una Petite (Only available online)
  • Limited Collection (Larger stores only)
  • Classic Collection
  • Bridal (Only Available Online and in selected stores)
  • Long & Tall (Only Available Online)

From early 2008 Plus and petite departments will be integrated into their standard size departments so that customers can find the type of clothing they are looking for in one area.. However Plus items will be stocked in stores up to size 24 with www.marksandspencer.com stocking sizes 26-30

per una

per una three hearts logo.

per una is a range of female clothing sold at Marks & Spencer.

Launched on September 28, 2001 as a joint venture between Marks & Spencer and Next founder George Davies. The brand name means for one (woman) in Italian. All Per Una items include the three hearts logo, inspired by a postcard seen by Davies while on holiday in Italy.

Per Una has been a major success for the company,[15] and in October 2004, Marks & Spencer bought the brand in a £125 million, two-year service contract with George Davies.[16]

Menswear

  • Blue Harbour - Britain's largest men's casual brand
  • Blue Harbour Golf - Specific range dedicated to golf, only available in larger stores
  • Autograph - From the designers Nigel Hall and Jeffery West
  • Collezione - Italian inspired clothing
  • Stormwear - Water-repellent clothing
  • Big & Tall - Only available from marksandspencer.com or instore ordering

Home, Technology and Furniture

In 2006, M&S lauched a whole new concept into their company, Technology. Technology sections were launched in 13 of its flagship stores. By 2008, there were a total of 15 Technology 'Gold' Stores and by 2009, there are major plans to lauch the range into a total of 25 of stores. The company also offers a smaller Technology product range in larger stores known as Technology 'Bronze' stores.

In Summer 2007 M&S extended their technology catalogue and also introduced a laptop installation and technical help service. This involves a trained M&S technical advisor visiting a customer's house on purchase of a new laptop from M&S. They set it up for the customer, giving demonstrations and answering questions.

In February 2008 M&S announced a range of 'own brand' PC software was to be launched. In April 2008, M&S added the sale of the Nintendo Wii into its gaming range, which now houses all wanted consoles such as the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3.

The Furniture range offered by Marks and Spencer has grown dramatically over the years, now including an online ordering, telephone ordering and in-store ordering facility. Popular ranges include the Sonoma Oak Collection and the Abbey sofa. All M&S furniture complies to strict FCS regulations, and is considered environmentally friendly, helping to combat climate change (Helping Plan A).

Wine

In response to demand from consumers for more expensive and prestigious wine, it was announced in January 2007 that M&S would be sourcing more low-alcohol wines (12% and below). By the end of 2007, almost all stores, including Simply Food, were expected to have a 'Fine Wines' display fitted into the original shelving unit. These units display all types of wine and Champagne over ten pounds. 100% of M&S wine is own-brand, and blended exclusively for the company. It can be purchased online, by the case, at often discounted prices.

In 2006 and 2007, Marks and Spencer entered over 100 of its own wines into two wine competitions, The Decanter World Wine Awards and The International Wine Challenge. Both years, almost every wine won an award, ranging from the 2005 Secano Pinot Noir, Leyda Valley, Chile (Best Pinot Noir in the world for under £10) to the Rosada Cava (Commended). This has helped establish Marks and Spencer as a serious competitor in the UK wine market.

Head Office locations

The headquarters of M&S was for 100 years in Baker Street, London; during World War II these offices were used by the Special Operations Executive for secret missions in Occupied Europe. In 2004 the company moved to a new headquarters in Paddington Basin, London.[17]

As well as the main offices in London, there are a number of other head office sites across the UK; Stockley Park (IT Services), Salford Quays (Marks and Spencer Shared Services Ltd. which provides human resources, and finance administration),[18][19] Chester (HSBC's M&S Money[20]) and Retail Customer Services), and Draycott (Per Una).

The company has overseas sourcing offices in Hong Kong, India, Bangladesh, Turkey and Sri Lanka.[21]

Stores

UK & Ireland

M&S have over 560 stores throughout the United Kingdom, with nearly 1.2 million square metres (12.5 million square feet) of selling space. This includes its largest store in Oxford Street, near Marble Arch, London, which has around 16,000 square metres (170,000 square feet) of sales floor. The second largest store is in Warrington, although the forthcoming M&S Megastore in Leeds will take over as the largest outside London.[22] The third largest store is at the Sprucefield Centre in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. The fourth largest store will be the forthcoming branch at Silverburn Centre, Pollok in Glasgow which, since its opening in October 2007, is largest Marks and Spencer store in Scotland[2]

In the run up to Christmas 2006, a total of 22 Marks and Spencer stores were open for 24 hour trading including the recently opened new retail park stores at Bolton Middlebrook and at the Abbey Centre, Newtownabbey.[23][24]

Ireland

Marks & Spencer opened its first Irish store in Dublin's Mary Street in 1979 (now part of the Jervis Shopping Centre), then Grafton Street, followed in 1988, Cork in 1989, then in 1996 the Grafton Street location to its present location in the former Brown Thomas store and finally the first out of town store in Liffey Valley in October 1998. There are now 18 Republic of Ireland stores, including three Simply Food stores. The newest store having opened in Killarney on the 9th of May, 2008. There are also 19 stores in the North including two outlet stores in Banbridge and Antrim. The Irish stores use a similar format and product line to the UK stores, including use of the "Your M&S" logo (which at Liffey Valley is the only logo used on exterior signs since a June 2007 refit). Since 2001 M&S have rolled out more than 24 stores in Northern Ireland and Ireland, including two Marks and Spencer Outlet stores in Northern Ireland and nine Simply Food stores (6 NI and 3 Ireland).

M&S' largest stores in Ireland are Liffey Valley Shopping Centre located in Lucan/Clondalkin in South Dublin, Dundrum located in Dundrum Town Centre in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Blanchardstown Town Centre in Fingal and Sprucefield located near Lisburn, about 11 miles (18 km) south of Belfast on the M1. It is the largest store in Ireland and the third largest in the UK, with its own Homeware store, technology store, deli bar and franchised restaurant.

M&S plans to grow the Ireland business "significantly over the next three years", according to its Annual report [3]. Stores were under construction in Sligo, Limerick (possibly two), Killarney and Waterford in the South and Bow Street Mall Lisburn, Enniskillen and Armagh in the North. On 1 November 2007 its latest store opened in Athlone, County Westmeath at Athlone Town Centre and also in Mullingar in County Westmeath at the fairgreen shopping centre. Like Liffey Valley, this store is branded solely as "M&S" on exterior signage, not "Marks and Spencer".

Store formats

Simply Food

There are 187 Simply Food stores selling predominantly food with most carrying a small selection of general merchandise. The flagship Simply Food store is that of Llanishen in Cardiff. Chief Executive Sir Stuart Rose has announced plans to expand the number of these stores to a total of 400.[25] Recently, several larger Simply Foods stores have opened, offering a more extensive food range than the original Simply Food stores. The most recent larger Simply Food store to open was on the Boucher Road, Belfast.[26] The most-profitable store per square footage, after the flagship Oxford Street store, is the Simply Food store in Whitley Bay's Park View Shopping Centre.

A number of these stores are run under franchise agreements:

  • Moto has stores at several of its motorway service stations[28]
  • BP has 11 forecourts with a Simply Food offer[29]
Home Stores

In 2007, Marks and Spencer announced that new, dedicated stores for Home furnishings were to be lauched.

Firstly, the Lisburn Home Store in Northern Ireland was opened, and proved to be successful.

Following this success, it was announced that a new M&S Home Store was to be built and opened in the Barton Square section of The Trafford Centre, which would expand the already large store situated in the centre. This store will open on the 22nd of May 2008 with a grand opening event.

The Barton Square Home Store will house a large Technology section, offer the full range of Furniture and white goods, and also reveal a large 82 seater 'Bromley Style' M&S Cafe.

Also scheduled to open later in 2008 is another Your M&S Home store in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Southern Ireland will also see its own dedicated Homestore arriving in October 2008 at the Dundrum Town Centre, it will house a full home offering over two floors and will be the biggest home store in the company to date,it will also house a 120 seater m&s cafe. The home store will significantly increase selling space, along with a new simply foods on sandyford road, Marks and Spencer Dundrum will become the 2nd biggest store in the company after marble arch.

The in-store café, M&S Café (formerly Café Revive), has been relaunched in stores as well as standing alone in shopping centres to compete with the likes of Costa Coffee and Starbucks.

Outlet Stores

Marks and Spencer Outlet Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary, with 32 stores at present and growth expansion plans for future. The Outlet division of Marks & Spencer offers M&S products with the majority of them offering at least a 30% discount from their original high street selling price.

The plan to open Outlet stores was agreed by M&S in 2000 and the first 3 stores opened, as a trial initially, in November 2000. The first store was in the McArthur Glen Outlet Mall in Ashford, Kent on 2nd November 2000.

The first 3 stores were apparently successful as M&S made the decision to open several more in 2001 including the McArthur Glen sites in Swindon, Wiltshire and Bridgend, South Wales and also the Lowry Outlet Mall in Salford Quays.

Marks & Spencer Outlet product offering includes; womenswear, lingerie, menswear and childrenswear along with home and beauty products.

Recently the company opened stores in locations outside factory outlet centres; both in retail park and high street enivronments. The retail park stores were planned to be branded 'M&S For Less', so as to create a perceived difference with the stores located in outlet centres. However after the first store, Astle Park, opened, it was decided not to continue with the new brand as the returns policy confused customers.[citation needed]

In 2004 the first of three Outlet High street stores opened. These stores were originally 'main chain' stores selling the normal M&S product range. Since conversion they continue to offer a full-price food offer but with an Outlet store range of textiles.

M&S currently have two Outlet stores in Northern Ireland at the Junction One and Bridgewater Park outlet parks, in Antrim and Banbridge respectively.

International stores

History

A Marks & Spencer store in Hong Kong.

All international stores are operated under franchise, with the exception of the stores in the Republic of Ireland and Hong Kong [4] which remain in company ownership.

The first M&S store in central Asia was built in Kabul, Afghanistan in the 1960s. The store was later shut down.

M&S expanded into Canada in 1973, and at one point had 47 stores across Canada. Despite various efforts to improve its image, the chain was never able to move beyond its reputation there as a stodgy retailer, one that catered primarily to senior citizens and expatriate Britons. The stores in Canada were smaller than British outlets, and did not carry the same selection. In the late 1990s, further efforts were made to modernize the stores and expand the customer base, and unprofitable locations were closed. Nonetheless, the Canadian operations continued to lose money, and the last 38 stores in Canada were closed in 1999.

Expansion into France began with stores opening in Paris at Boulevard Haussmann and Lyon in 1975, followed by a second Paris store at Rosny 2 in 1977. Further expansion into other French and Belgian cities followed into the 1980s. Although the Paris stores remained popular and profitable, the whole of the Western European operation did not fare as well and all the stores were closed in 2001. Branches remain in some European countries, such as the Czech Republic and Malta.

In February 2007, M&S announced the opening of the world’s largest M&S store outside the UK at Dubai Festival City.

Countries

There are currently franchise stores located in the following locations:[30]

Training and development

Customer service training

M&S staff are trained in customer service techniques using a customised programme based around the 'Mary Gober Method'. This is known internally as 'Our Service Style'.

'Our Service Style' is defined as follows "We are friendly, helpful, courteous people, who are knowledgeable and enthusiastic about taking care of our customers".

This definition is derived from principles originally identified by the business in the 1950s as being key to good customer service.

Our Service Style training was originally delivered in large seminars hosted by Mary Gober, which all staff attended. Its delivery to staff continues through in-store coaching and training programmes.

Staff members who have been trained in 'Our Service Style' can sometimes be identified by a brooch/pin of a starfish on their uniform.

Graduate and trainee management scheme

The Marks and Spencer Graduate Scheme was set-up to "fast-track" suitable candidates to commercial managers. The applicant can either already be working for Marks and Spencer or can be completely new to the company. The selection procedure is strict and the training is around 12 months in duration, after which point trainees aim to have gathered enough experience to take on Commercial Manager positions. All applicants must apply online through the Marks and Spencer Communication Centre and successfully complete and pass the following psychometric tests to evaluate their suitability for the role. The tests are firstly a Verbal Reasoning test which then, upon success and passing, leads onto a Numerical Reasoning test. If this is successfully passed, the candidate is then required to complete an OPQ (Occupational Personality Questionnaire) which is the final stage of the online selection procedure. All of the tests must be taken within 14 days from the first application, otherwise the application is withdrawn automatically.

Marks & Spencer was ranked number 17 in The Times "Top 100 Graduate Employers 2008".[31]

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/press_release/0,1014,cid%253D196099,00.html
  2. ^ "CarInsurance1 - Marks & Spencer".
  3. ^ as of March 2007
  4. ^ "Marks & Spencer profits top expectations". BBC News Online - 19/5/98
  5. ^ Markets - Newcastle City Council
  6. ^ "Marks and Spencer to charge for plastic bags", By Bonnie Malkin and agencies, The Daily Telegraph (online), 28 February, 2008
  7. ^ http://www.answers.com/topic/marks-and-spencer-p-l-c Marks and Spencer plc - answers.com
  8. ^ "M&S launches new ‘Look behind the label’ campaign". Paddington Waterside Partnership - 21/02/2006
  9. ^ "Marks & Spencer dives into ethical consumer market" Fletcher, Anthony - 10/03/2006 - Food Navigator.com (Europe)
  10. ^ "M&S set to launch Fairtrade range." BBC News Online - 30/01/06
  11. ^ "Marks & Spencer raises money for Shelter this Christmas"
  12. ^ Marks & Spencer: Plan A
  13. ^ "Steve Sharp: Shy marketing whizz creating sparks at Marks." Martinson, Jane - The Guardian, 23/06/06
  14. ^ Marks and sparks: Shopping in the 21st century - This Britain, UK - Independent.co.uk
  15. ^ M&S sales rise but Davies resigns
  16. ^ M&S completes Per Una purchase
  17. ^ Paddington Basin registered business address
  18. ^ "Shared Services Recruitment Page." Company Website
  19. ^ Living and Working in the North West - Working in Manchester: Shared Services
  20. ^ Lexdon Business Library - HSBC and Marks & Spencer complete the sale of M&S Money
  21. ^ UK's leading retailer launches Asian Sourcing Office in Hong Kong Invest HK - 28/09/05
  22. ^ M&S megastore for Leeds - Property Week
  23. ^ "Marks & Spencer announces pre Christmas opening hours" Press Release - 8/12/06
  24. ^ "M&S opens for 24hrs and other department stores extend hours to boost slow trading." Watson, Molly - icWales.co.uk - 20/12/06
  25. ^ "Simply Food to triple in size with restaurant plan." Finch, Julia - 8/11/06 - Guardian Unlimited
  26. ^ "[1]"
  27. ^ Select Service Partner. Company Website
  28. ^ Perils of the motorway pit stops May, Maurice - BBC News Online - 10/11/06
  29. ^ "M&S announces Simply Food/BP roll-out plan" IGD Retail Analysis Retailer News
  30. ^ Company Website - List of International Locations
  31. ^ The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers

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