M&S confirms plans to cut over 500 jobs at head office

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Sep 5, 2016

About 525 jobs at Marks and Spencer’s head office in London are set to be axed as the retailer announces plans to reshape its organisation.

The UK company said on Monday it will be entering in to consultation with its employees following a detailed review of its UK head office structure.

The proposed changes will affect staff from the retailer’s three London offices as well as contractors, but it will not impact on M&S store employees.

In addition to the job cuts, the retailer plans to relocate 400 jobs across its IT and logistics teams outside central London in a bid to make the company’s structure easier and more efficient. 

Steve Rowe, M&S CEO, said: “M&S has to become a simpler and more effective organisation if we are to deliver our plans to recover and grow our business.”

“It is never easy to propose changes that impact on our people, but I believe that the proposals outlined today are absolutely necessary and will help us build a different type of M&S – one that can take bolder, pacier decisions, be more profitable and ultimately better serve our customers,” he added.

The reductions will help the retailer save up to 1% of its UK operating costs per year.

Marks & Spencer also announced on Friday it will go ahead with controversial pay, premiums and pension changes. Among other measures, the retailer will remove premium payments for Sunday working and active members of the M&S Defined Benefit scheme will no longer earn new benefits from April 2017.