Hundreds of jobs lost as M&S announces it is to close three stores in North West

Struggling Marks & Spencer has announced it is closing another 17 stores in a move that will affect more than 1,000 staff.

There are three stores in the North West earmarked for closure at Barrow, Buxton and Northwich.

The high street giant announced earlier this year that it is closing 100 stores as part of a restructuring plan as sales move online.

As part of the move it has already shut 30 branches.

Sacha Berendji, the M&S retail, operations and property director, said: “Proposing to close stores is never easy, for our colleagues, customers or the local community, but it is vital for
the future of M&S.”
M&S said it will enter a period of consultation and hopes to retain as many jobs as possible.

M&S said the plans to close a total of 100 shops by 2022 is vital for the future of the struggling retail business.

The retailer launched a “radical transformation” plan intended to tackle years of falling sales and profits.

The cull began two years ago when the chief executive, Steve Rowe, said he would slash the amount of shopfloor space devoted to M&S’s clothing ranges.

In a trading update last week, M&S said it was seeing “encouraging early signs” from its radical reorganisation despite further falls in clothing and food sales over its Christmas quarter.

David Gill – Usdaw National Officer – said: “Staff in all M&S stores were extremely concerned about what the future holds when the company announced a wide-ranging store reorganisation in November 2016, which will affect more than 100 shops over a five year period.

“Today we’ve seen a fourth wave of closures announced, which is devastating news for the staff in those stores and the uncertainty continues for everyone else. This piecemeal approach to reorganising the business is extremely distressing for the staff.

“We are providing our members with the support and representation they require throughout this difficult time.”