Documents seen by the Guardian show retailer has consulted on redundancies

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Marks & Spencer has plans for a new wave of job cuts, with more than 300 posts to go in stores around the country, according to documents seen by the Guardian.

The high street chain, which last week warned that its decision to close 100 stores would not necessarily be the end of its attempts to restructure, has been consulting on redundancies among managers in a bid to streamline its business.

Quick guide The state of UK retail's ill-health Show Hide Retailers that have gone bust 2017-18 Toys R Us: 180 stores employing 3,000 staff, collapsed 28 February. Owes £15m in VAT, due by 1 March. Maplin: 200 electronics and gadget stores, founded 1972, also failed on 28 February. Warren Evans: bedmaker went into administration earlier in February. East: fashion brand with nearly 50 outlets folded in January. Juice Corp: business behind brands including Elizabeth Emanuel and Joe Bloggs went under in January. Multiyork: furniture chain with 50 stores went into administration in November. Feather & Black: bedroom furniture and bedding specialist with 25 outlets fell into administration in November. Retailers under pressure New Look has debts of more than £1bn and has lost some of its credit insurance cover, which protects suppliers if a retailer goes bust. In the 10 months to Christmas, sales fell 11% and losses hit £123m. The company intends to close 60 stores and change its fashion ranges, but faces a struggle to win back young shoppers. House of Fraser's Chinese owner, Sanpower, had to stump up £25m to see the store through Christmas and its debt is rated as junk. The retailer is attempting to reduce the size of its stores by 30% and has asked landlords to cut rents. Debenhams, a 178-store chain that is more than 200 years old, is axing one in four of its managers and considering closures to cut costs. It has warned that profits have been hit by lower than expected sales, with profit margins also down as a result of having to cut prices to match rivals. Photograph: Tony Margiocchi / Barcroft Images/Barcroft Media

The embattled retailer has already announced a series of job losses this year, with the closure of a distribution centre in Warrington adding to redundancies from stores being shut.

Along with other high street retailers, Marks & Spencer has been hit by the move to online shopping together with higher costs, including business rates, at a time of falling consumer spending.

In May, it reported a steep fall in annual profits and said clothes and food sales had fallen. A bill of £514.1m for restructuring the business put further pressure on its earnings.

The new redundancies follow a review of the company’s set-up, which found inconsistent management structures in similar stores and overlapping management roles.

Marks & Spencer chair to shareholders: 'We're on a burning platform' Read more

Other major British retailers, including Sainsbury’s and Tesco, have made similar moves to reduce management roles in their stores as they try to keep a lid on costs in a very competitive market.

The consultation documents seen by the Guardian state that while sales activity across Marks & Spencer’s stores had fallen by 7.5% over the past two years, management costs had risen.

“This has contributed to reducing store profitability, impacting on our ability to trade our existing stores and open future stores viably,” the documents read.

In response, 351 redundancies have been proposed across a range of roles.

The retailer said it planned to reduce store, commercial and operations managers by 115 and to make redundant 182 section managers in the same sectors of the business.

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On top of these, it would reduce the number of visual managers, who prepare store displays, by 54.



M&S confirmed the proposals and said the affected staff had been told.



A spokeswoman said: “M&S is transforming and this is a tough but necessary decision to take to ensure our stores support the future of the business and provide the best service for our customers.”



Last week, the company’s chairman, Archie Norman, gave a stark warning to shareholders attending the M&S annual general meeting, saying the business was “on a burning platform”.