Britain's M&S to cut 351 store jobs
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Shoppers walk past a Marks & Spencer shop on Oxford Street in central London, on June 19, 2018.
PHOTO: AFP
LONDON (REUTERS) - British retailer Marks & Spencer said on Monday (July 16) it would cut 351 jobs at stores across the country, seeking to make savings in a brutally competitive market.
The job losses, first reported by The Guardian, will be mainly in various store management roles and are unrelated to M&S' programme to close 100 British stores by 2022 which has already cost some jobs.
"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," a spokeswoman for the retailer said.
M&S has reported two straight years of profit decline and analysts forecast a third when it reports 2018 to 2019 results next May.
The retailer said in May that it was modernising rapidly to survive - a theme Chairman Archie Norman returned to at last week's annual shareholders' meeting when he said M&S "has a burning platform."
Shares in M&S were down 1.2 per cent at 1524 GMT.
In 2016 M&S cut a net 525 jobs from its London head office.
