Marks & Spencer announces plans to cut around 525 jobs

Marks & Spencer has announced proposals to cut around 525 jobs as it looks to make savings following a detailed review.

In a bid to “reshape and redefine” the organisation, M&S is planning to cut the number of head office roles by around 525 and move around 400 jobs across IT and logistics outside of central London.

This would be achieved through a combination of fewer contractors, natural attrition and redundancies.

M&S said that if the proposals go ahead, they would be likely to achieve annualised operating cost savings of around 1% of the cost base.

Cost growth guidance for the current year remains unchanged at about 3.5%. There would be a non-underlying cost of approximately £15m which includes the changes to the senior management team that have already taken place, M&S said.

Chief executive officer Steve Rowe 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."

Rowe insisted that store employees would not be affected by the changes.

The statement followed press reports over the weekend that the retailer was planning to axe around 500 jobs at its HQ.

At 1152 BST, M&S shares were down 0.3% to 353p.