It entered the crisis hindered by an inferior clothing website, with its successful food business hobbled by its reliance on commuters and entertaining at home, and the forced closure of its in-store cafes. Analysts forecast pre-tax profit of £43m, pulled down by one-offs such as Covid safety measures in stores and redundancy costs – although unlike other “essential” retailers M&S has not returned millions of pounds of business rates relief. The divvying-out of responsibilities is billed as having left Rowe free to “concentrate on building the M&S of the future”. Weak stores have closed, costs have been slashed – involving heavy job losses – and there is now an online food business, thanks to a joint venture with Ocado. “The problem with the whole thing is that M&S is perpetually restructuring,” he says.

Source: The Guardian May 22, 2021 23:03 UTC