Marks & Spencer has dismissed a report that it will cut hundreds of jobs at its London head office as “simply inaccurate”.
The rebuttal follows an article in The Sunday Times that said M&S was looking to drastically reduce headcount at its HQ as part of reforms being driven by chair Archie Norman.
However, M&S said “it is simply inaccurate that hundreds of roles are being cut”, adding: “As previously reported in October, we have said the lease on our London office ends in 2028 and that is a sensible time to think about the amount of space we have in London versus elsewhere.”
In October, chief executive Stuart Machin told investors he was not convinced M&S still needed its Paddington, London, head office.
“I do think, over the next few years, there’s an opportunity to work quite differently. In Waterside [M&S’ head office], our lease will run out in FY28 and I don’t see us needing a large office like this in central London,” he said.
“We’ve got a chance over the next few years to plan for that, to have smaller hubs around the country and to do that in the most cost-efficient way, but also to do it where we can attract the best talent from across the whole of the UK.”
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