Retailer says underwear that could become male equivalent of push-up bra is intended to ‘help men feel their most confident’
For men who lament the decline of the codpiece, or who lack confidence at the office when their pants are not pushing up their genitals all day, Marks & Spencer is riding to the rescue.
The retailer, the UK market leader in selling underwear, has launched what could be considered the male equivalent of the push-up bra.
Continue reading...Alex Freudmann says ministers need to increase proportion of food eaten in UK that is grown or reared in Britain
Marks & Spencer’s head of food has called on the government to set a legally binding “concrete target” to increase the proportion of food produced at home, as he warned that Britain was becoming “less and less self-sufficient”.
Alex Freudmann, the managing director of the upmarket grocer’s food division, which works with 10,000 British farms, said: “If ministers are committed to domestic food supply, then they need to prove it, and that’s why we’re backing our farmers’ calls for a clear and concrete target to increase the proportion of food eaten in Britain that’s grown or reared in Britain.”
Continue reading...ASA ruling comes amid fears fashion industry reversing progress in body positivity movement
An advert by high street retailer Marks & Spencer has been banned for featuring an “irresponsible” image of a model who appeared “unhealthily thin”.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the model’s pose, choice of clothing and the camera angle which seemed to tilt downwards all contributed to the impression she was too thin.
Continue reading...These small, joyful indulgences are ‘an antidote to life’s uncertainties’, food trend watchers say
If you said to a friend that you fancied Japanese food this weekend, they might be forgiven for thinking you meant sushi. But lately a new culinary export from Japan is catching up with fish and rice in the hearts and tastebuds of British foodies.
Soft, sweet and full of character, Japanese-style desserts – from mochi ice cream to matcha cookies – have been steadily gaining ground on UK shelves.
Continue reading...Fashion revival and warm weather had boosted the retailer – but the attack has halted website sales
Marks & Spencer was enjoying a strong start to 2025 thanks to a fashion revival and the warm spring weather. That has now been seriously undermined as the retailer scrambles to deal with disruption caused by a massive cyber-attack it first revealed a week ago.
At a time when M&S – alongside most big retailers – are pushing more automation on its customers and workers, industry insiders say the retailer’s staff have been forced to return to pens, paper and clipboards to check stock in stores as internal systems have been put on hold.
Continue reading...Hack has wiped more than £500m off Marks & Spencer’s stock market value in the past week
Marks & Spencer has been forced to pause deliveries of some packaged food items to the online grocery site Ocado as the high street stalwart continues to battle the consequences of a cyber-attack that began a week ago.
The latest issue is understood to affect a small number of items listed on Ocado, which is co-owned by M&S, which halted all orders through its M&S.com website and apps on Friday. M&S did not confirm the number of items affected but said it had worked with Ocado and its suppliers “to minimise any disruption to the small proportion of the range delivered through our network to Ocado”.
Continue reading...Marks & Spencer has halted orders on its website and apps, giving customers a refund for those placed after Wednesday
The cyber-attack at Marks & Spencer is continuing to cause chaos for shoppers, with no clarity yet as to when the retailer’s systems will be fully back up and running.
Website orders remain on hold for the fourth day in a row, and those affected also include customers waiting to collect orders or wanting to spend or buy M&S gift cards, as well as users of the retailer’s Sparks customer reward scheme.
Continue reading...Axa and Scottish Widows back ShareAction campaign for chains such as Next to pay at least £12.60 an hour
Major investors including Axa and Scottish Widows are backing shareholder resolutions pressing retailers Next, Marks & Spencer and JD Sports to increase pay for thousands of workers.
More than 100 individuals and eight institutional investors, which manage over £1tn in assets, are backing an effort to encourage companies to pay a “real living wage”, which is designed to ensure workers can cover necessary household costs.
Continue reading...From John Lewis to Cos, high street stores are selling coats costing more than £1,000 in a move to cast themselves as ‘luxe’ brands
If you were given £1,000 to splurge on the high street, what would you buy? Perhaps a head-to-toe new season wardrobe from Zara? Enough knitwear to see you through several winters, or maybe a lifetime supply of socks from Marks & Spencer?
Whatever you decide, you’d need to factor in the cost of a taxi to lug all those bags back from the shops. Or at least, once upon a time you would. These days, a grand is easy to spend on a single item – and it’s all thanks to the rise of the four-figure coat.
Continue reading...Shoppers can use technology to advise them on outfit choices based on their body shape and style preferences
Marks & Spencer is using artificial intelligence to advise shoppers on their outfit choices based on their body shape and style preferences, as part of efforts to increase online sales.
The 130-year-old retailer is using the technology to personalise consumers’ online experience, and suggest items to buy.
Continue reading...Pre-tax profits increased to £672.5m but retailer says it will reduce costs further as part of five-year plan
Marks & Spencer has said it will step up cost cuts in the year ahead despite increasing annual profits by a better-than-expected 41%.
Stuart Machin, the chief executive of the clothing, homeware and food retailer, said it was “at the beginnings of a new M&S” with “wind in our sails, and confidence that our plan is working” as pre-tax profits rose to £672.5m in the year to 30 March. Sales rose 9.4% to £13bn.
Continue reading...Animal welfare groups urge retailers to switch to slow-growing birds in face of record deaths last year
More than 80 million chickens died before reaching slaughter weight in the UK last year, with mortality rates the highest for at least a decade, reveal official figures.
Animal welfare organisations say the fast-growing chicken breeds that dominate production have higher mortality rates, lameness and muscle disease than slower-growing breeds. They are calling on retailers to switch to slower-growing breeds and provide more space for the birds.
Continue reading...Four years after it fell out of the FTSE 100 the high street brand is again boasting strong sales
Fours years after it fell out of the FTSE 100, M&S has turned around its fortunes to become the UK’s best retailer for women’s wear.
In May, strong sales figures were driven not only by bog-standard basics such as underwear and T-shirts, but by more fashion-forward categories, too. Now, sales of women’s party wear are up 49%, and knitwear up 23% in October compared with last year.
Continue reading...M&S says ‘short-sighted act of self-sabotage’ leaves no choice but to review position on UK’s premier shopping street
Marks & Spencer has been refused permission to demolish and rebuild its main store on Oxford Street in the West End of London in a win for campaigners concerned about the carbon footprint of redevelopment.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities confirmed that Michael Gove, the secretary of state, disagreed with the recommendation from inspectors to approve the plans and had “decided to refuse permission”.
Continue reading...Promotion is designed to help parents who are struggling to afford clothes amid cost of living crisis
Families are being offered money off children’s clothes in Marks & Spencer if they donate school uniform hand-me-downs, as part of a push designed to help parents struggling to afford them amid the cost of living crisis.
The second-hand uniform collected will be sold via Oxfam’s high street chain as well as via a new “back-to-school” eBay shop. The tie-up is an extension of M&S’s existing “shwopping” partnership with Oxfam, in which customers drop off old clothing in exchange for loyalty card perks.
Continue reading...WH Smith, Marks & Spencer and Argos among more than 200 firms that failed to pay workers legal minimum wage
Some of the UK’s best known retailers including WH Smith, Marks & Spencer, Argos and LloydsPharmacy are at the head of a list of more than 200 companies collectively fined £7m for failing to pay the legal minimum wage.
The businesses were also forced to pay out £4.9m to about 63,000 workers left out of pocket after violations of the rules were uncovered by inspectors at HMRC, varying from breaches related to asking workers to pay for aspects of their uniform to paying the incorrect apprenticeship rate.
Continue reading...Retail chain to invest £480m in rejuvenating its presence on the high street
Marks & Spencer is to open 20 large stores and create 3,400 jobs as part of a £500m plan to rejuvenate its presence on the high street after bumper Christmas trading.
The retail chain – which in October said it would close 67 of its “lower productivity” sites that sold clothes and homewares, about a quarter of its estate of bigger stores – said it planned to open the 20 new “bigger, better” stores in locations across the UK in the next financial year.
Continue reading...Marks & Spencer profits fall by almost 24%, although clothing, food and international sales rise
Marks & Spencer has said it faces a “gathering storm”, with next year likely to be more challenging than this after reporting a near 24% fall in profits.
The clothing, food and homewares retailer said sales rose 8.8% to £5.6bn in the six months to 1 October but underlying pre-tax profits sank 23.7% to £205.5m as its Ocado online grocery joint venture fell into the red and it pulled out of Russia.
Continue reading...Comedian and campaigner tells planning inquiry retailer is failing to use landmark building imaginatively
The comedian Griff Rhys Jones is the latest high-profile name to weigh in against Marks & Spencer’s plan to raze and redevelop its main London store, accusing the retailer of not making the most of its landmark building.
Jones, who presented the BBC TV series Restoration in the 2000s, which identified significant buildings in need of repair, told an inquiry into the development of the store on Oxford Street near Marble Arch that, having shopped there, he “would venture that M&S are not using the space in a very imaginative way compared to the possibilities old buildings offer. I wonder if the ‘unsuitability’ has more to do with the desire to create a much bigger floor space and offices.”
Continue reading...Mark & Spencer says 95% of materials will be recovered, recycled or reused amid growing opposition
Marks & Spencer has pledged that 95% of the materials in its Marble Arch building in Oxford Street, west London, will be recovered, recycled or reused as it fights back against heavy opposition to its plan to flatten the shop.
In the run-up an inquiry into the scheme, scheduled to begin on 25 October, the retailer said some materials would be reused directly on site within its new building as part of its efforts to “promote circular economy principles”.
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