The chief executive of Marks & Spencer, Marc Bolland, has announced that he plans to retire in 2016, to be replaced by Steve Rowe, the group’s executive director of General Merchandise.
Bolland will remain in his position until 2 April, with the full transition scheduled for 30 June.
The news comes on the back of that the retailer says was its ‘best ever’ Christmas for food sales, with sales up 17% in the key Christmas week.
According to the UK retailer, which also boasts outlets in Ireland, France and a myriad of other countries, third quarter food sales were up 3.7% or 0.4% on a like-for-like basis, compared to the previous year.
General Merchandise sales, however, were down 5.0%, of down 5.8% on a like-for-like basis, which the retailer blamed on the inclement weather.
The trading period covered by the retailer covers the 13 weeks to 26 December.
“M&S had an excellent Christmas in Food, delivering record Christmas sales and strongly outperforming the market,” said Marc Bolland, M&S chief executive.
“General Merchandise sales were disappointing. We continued to prioritise gross margin and held back from the heavy discounting seen across the market in the run up to Christmas. As a result we now expect GM gross margin to be at the top end of the guided range.”
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
