Marks and Spencer is a British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London. It offers a range of different goods from clothes to home and beauty products. The company also sells a wide range of food items. Marks and Spencer has expanded internationally in recent years. Today, it has over 3,500 stores worldwide.
Alison Jones joins Marks and Spencer
Alison Jones, the former Brand Director of General Merchandise, is set to leave her post at Marks and Spencer. She had been appointed by retail boss Marc Bolland last summer to develop and lead the brand strategy for clothing, homeware and food. She was previously the marketing director at Debenhams and Arcadia and was the daughter of Next legend Sir David Jones.
She will be replacing Rob Weston, who will take up the position of brand director of general merchandise. Jones, who joined Marks and Spencer last May, will now focus on food. Marks & Spencer is making a major investment in the food and drink industry. Alison Jones is also making her mark on diversity and inclusion.
M&S expands overseas
Marks and Spencer is expanding its global business by leveraging its established distribution network. The expansion aims to increase revenue by providing localised shopping experiences to customers. The retailer is also using its website platform to support international business. This allows the retailer to localise offers and anticipate changing consumer habits.
The move comes as a response to the growing number of international shoppers. The company aims to target emerging markets by expanding its presence in digital channels. It has launched 46 new international websites, including ones in Iceland and Argentina. It has also increased its currency offerings to cater to customers in these markets. The expansion is a part of the company’s ongoing Never the Same Again transformation programme, which includes a focus on accelerating online business growth.
M&S is expanding its international footprint in a step-by-step manner. It plans to establish flagship stores in key cities, and smaller food stores and an online store to reach customers from other parts of the world. The company will focus on opening 250 outlets globally. Of these, 60 percent will be franchise stores. The new stores will be in priority markets such as Russia, China, India, and the Middle East.
The expansion of M&S overseas is part of its strategy to rebuild the 130-year-old institution. It is aiming to increase its international presence by more than 50% in three years. It plans to expand its food division, as well as to open 20 new food outlets in France. It has also stepped up its international efforts after withdrawing from mainland Europe in 2001, which sparked protests among its staff.
The company’s accelerated growth is the result of its ability to adapt to international markets. The company has a strong distribution network in place to manage its international operations. The retailer also has websites in more than 100 countries.
M&S plans to reduce the use of plastic carrier bags
In a bid to reduce its carbon footprint, M&S has announced plans to reduce its use of plastic carrier bags. It has pledged to cut its use by one third by 2012 and to send no waste to landfill by then. It has also launched a new initiative to collect and recycle used carrier bags. By next year, all stores in Wales and Northern Ireland will charge five pence per bag. The retailer has said it will donate the profits to environmental charities.
The company has joined the UK Plastics Pact, an initiative which aims to change the plastic industry by 2025. It has also announced plans to phase out single-use plastic bags in its stores by spring 2019. It has already stopped offering single-use plastic bags and has removed over a thousand tonnes of plastic packaging in a year.
The company is also charging food customers for their plastic carrier bags. The new system costs five pence and will reduce the amount of bags used by 66%. The change is expected to be implemented in hundreds of stores across the UK. It is part of a larger campaign by the supermarkets to reduce the amount of plastic bags that people use.
As a result of its new policy, M&S has pledged to recycle 20 million items of clothing annually. It has also pledged to provide job placements to 15 000 people from disadvantaged groups over the next 10 years. It also demands that suppliers increase the use of energy-efficient lighting, improved insulation, and better temperature controls. In its most recent audit, over eighty percent of its suppliers met this target.
The company has announced its “Plan A” campaign to promote greener retailing and highlight its commitment to consumers. Starting on May 6, M&S will levy customers who use plastic carrier bags. The money raised will go to environmental charity Groundwork.
M&S was founded by Michael Marks
In 1884, Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer founded the retail giant, Marks and Spencer, in Leeds, England. Today, the company is a leading player in the British retail industry. Its name is an acronym for “Marks and Spencer”, but the company is also known by many other names, including M&S, Marks and Sparks, and Marks’s.
Marks grew the company from humble beginnings. In 1894, he gained a permanent stall in the highly sought after Leeds market. He invited Spencer to join him and the two men began working together. By the end of the year, the company had expanded significantly and opened more than ten market hall stores.
In 1884, Michael Marks immigrated to Yorkshire, where he ran a market stall. He began selling a range of goods, categorizing them according to price. His stall became popular, and he partnered with another entrepreneur, Tom Spencer, a cashier at wholesaler Dewhirst. The two eventually incorporated Marks & Spencer and opened the first Penny Bazaar stores.
The company has opened numerous stores across the United Kingdom. The largest one, M&S in Marble Arch, London, has over 16,000 square meters of shop floor space. It also has a thriving wine business. M&S has entered over a hundred different wines into competitions, and its wines have received numerous awards.
M&S has also launched a number of campaigns to reduce their carbon footprint. In 2008, it introduced the 5p carrier bag scheme to discourage the use of plastic bags. In addition, it donated its profits from the sale of food bags to Groundwork UK. In June 2011, it launched the Forever Fish campaign, to raise awareness of marine wildlife in the UK.
M&S is carbon neutral
Marks and Spencer is becoming carbon neutral thanks to a series of initiatives. It has become a retailer of electricity and gas and provides energy-efficient appliances. It also offers advice on home insulation. And it rewards customers who save energy by using M&S vouchers. It plans to be carbon neutral by 2020.
M&S is making an important environmental commitment to tackle global warming. The company has set ambitious goals for itself to meet these goals. In 2010, the company launched its sustainability project Plan A and announced that it aimed to reduce its carbon emissions by 45% by 2015. The company reached some of these targets, but missed others. In 2012, it published a report that outlines 180 commitments and sustainable policies that will benefit the business.
As a part of its efforts, M&S has appointed 100 staff members as “carbon champions” to help drive the company’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. The company has also launched an online “Green Network” to encourage employees to share ideas and learn about carbon issues. The company has also stressed the importance of working with suppliers to help the company meet its carbon goals.
Moreover, M&S has also teamed up with Reboot the Future, a group of young leaders who are working to develop resources for people to live more sustainable lives. This partnership has also led the company to relaunch its Look Behind the Label campaign, a resource containing details about five products that consumers use on a daily basis. The campaign’s logo is now used across the company’s social media pages to encourage customers to learn more about M&S’s commitments.
Ultimately, M&S is committed to zero deforestation in its palm oil and soy operations and to sourcing more sustainable fibers. The company also supports regenerative agriculture and lower carbon farming methods. M&S has set some ambitious goals to achieve these objectives.
