M&S shares slip on job cuts

British retailer Marks and Spencer plans to cut a net 525 jobs from its London head office, it confirmed yesterday, as new CEO Steve Rowe seeks to simplify the business and reduce costs.

The clothing and food group also plans to reduce the number of roles permanently based in central London by about 400 across its IT and logistics functions.

It said the planned reduction in jobs, which follows a review of M&S’s organisational structure, would be achieved through a combination of fewer contractors, natural attrition and redundancies for M&S employees.