The high street retail giant is set to shut 30 sites in ‘locations that can no longer support a store’.
M&S has said that it will ‘recapture trade’ from store closures, through nearby stores and online sales. It added that it will reduce the number of full-line stores from 254 to 180.
The company said that a loss of £201.2m was due to the impact of local and national lockdown restrictions.
The impact of Brexit has also caused the supply of fresh and chilled products in M&S to be a ‘very lengthy and bureaucratic’ process. The company added: “The business is now exposed to additional costs following Brexit, largely due to the administrative burden on exports of food, particularly to Ireland.”
M&S went on to say that the adverse effects of Brexit are still being felt across its supply chain, including, restrictions on certain products, port delays, and increased operational complexity.
As part of its recovery plan, M&S has suggested that a focus on digital trading improvements, partner store modernisation, and supply chain development, are all to be pursued for a ‘rapid recovery’ as lockdown ends.
