Inside the Multi-Billion-Pound Resurgence of Marks & Spencer
Times Business
15,537 views
How did M&S pull off one of the biggest turnarounds in British retail?
Hannah Prevett speaks to operations director Sacha Berendji about the high street giant's transformation.
In this episode of The Business, we explore how M&S transformed its food, fashion, and shop location strategy to capture market share across British business. From store renewals and digital growth - to managing a cyber attack - we consider what its resurgence reveals about wider retail trends and consumer spending across the UK economy. M&S operations director Sacha Berendji joins Hannah Prevett, associate business editor at The Sunday Times, to discuss the corporate strategy behind the multi-billion-pound revival of M&S. He explains how leadership set the course to revamp its product lineup, handle the logistics of "fortress factories" and is now approaching shoplifting challenges. He also discusses the tax burden on high street retailers, along with what M&S wants from government fiscal policy to address rising costs and the youth unemployment crisis.
He breaks down the company's decision to close a number of high street shops across the country:
“We're very well aware of the role that we play on a high street and within a local community, so we never take these decisions [to close a location] lightly - but when you look at the economics at play, not just for us, but for all retailers, and, really importantly, where customers are shopping, it has become more and more difficult to justify being in locations where there isn't customer foot fall,” he says on the show. “It's not an anti-high street agenda … If the high street is the right place, then we'll be on the high street.”
00:00:00 - M&S Transformation
00:03:37 - Behind the Scenes of the Supply Chain
00:05:19 - High Street Impact
00:12:13 - Social Media Trends
00:17:12 - Fashion Evolution
00:21:25 - Macroeconomic Pressures
00:28:04 - Tackling Shoplifting
Guest:
Sacha Berendji, operations director at M&S
Presenter:
Hannah Prevett, associate business editor at The Sunday Times
Video Producer: Bronwen Latham
Producer: Hope Federico
Executive Producer: Miriam Hall and Emily Leahy
Get in touch: thebusiness@thetimes.com
Read the best of our journalism: https://www.thetimes.com/
Subscribe to The Times and The Sunday Times YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_...
Find us on Facebook: Facebook: timesandsundaytimes
Find us on X: https://x.com/thetimes
Find us on Instagram: Instagram: thetimes
6 Comments
Love M&S clothes, bang on trend and is attracting a lot of younger men too
Their food to me has gone downhill. Not as good quality as you presume from M&S
Inside the Multi-Billion-Pound Resurgence of Marks & Spencer
Times Business
15,537 views
How did M&S pull off one of the biggest turnarounds in British retail?
Hannah Prevett speaks to operations director Sacha Berendji about the high street giant's transformation.
In this episode of The Business, we explore how M&S transformed its food, fashion, and shop location strategy to capture market share across British business. From store renewals and digital growth - to managing a cyber attack - we consider what its resurgence reveals about wider retail trends and consumer spending across the UK economy. M&S operations director Sacha Berendji joins Hannah Prevett, associate business editor at The Sunday Times, to discuss the corporate strategy behind the multi-billion-pound revival of M&S. He explains how leadership set the course to revamp its product lineup, handle the logistics of "fortress factories" and is now approaching shoplifting challenges. He also discusses the tax burden on high street retailers, along with what M&S wants from government fiscal policy to address rising costs and the youth unemployment crisis.
He breaks down the company's decision to close a number of high street shops across the country:
“We're very well aware of the role that we play on a high street and within a local community, so we never take these decisions [to close a location] lightly - but when you look at the economics at play, not just for us, but for all retailers, and, really importantly, where customers are shopping, it has become more and more difficult to justify being in locations where there isn't customer foot fall,” he says on the show. “It's not an anti-high street agenda … If the high street is the right place, then we'll be on the high street.”
00:00:00 - M&S Transformation
00:03:37 - Behind the Scenes of the Supply Chain
00:05:19 - High Street Impact
00:12:13 - Social Media Trends
00:17:12 - Fashion Evolution
00:21:25 - Macroeconomic Pressures
00:28:04 - Tackling Shoplifting
Guest:
Sacha Berendji, operations director at M&S
Presenter:
Hannah Prevett, associate business editor at The Sunday Times
Video Producer: Bronwen Latham
Producer: Hope Federico
Executive Producer: Miriam Hall and Emily Leahy
Get in touch: thebusiness@thetimes.com
Read the best of our journalism: https://www.thetimes.com/
Subscribe to The Times and The Sunday Times YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_...
Find us on Facebook: Facebook: timesandsundaytimes
Find us on X: https://x.com/thetimes
Find us on Instagram: Instagram: thetimes