M&S suffers worst day in seven years

London - After M&S revealed its revival plans to focus on Mrs M&S, the 50-plus customer who visits her local branch 18 times a year, the company saw its worst performing day in seven years.

M&S chief executive Steve Row, who started the company as a 15 year-old Saturday boy, is adamant to bring M&S womenswear back to its day of glory when it enjoyed a 15 percent market share.

The market responded sharply to the initial plans and shares fell by more than 10 percent as the stock market absorbed an accompanying downgrade in next year’s forecast pre-tax profits from 705 million to 625 million pounds.

The question remains if Rowe’s vision of a revival can in fact be achieved. After a string of disappointments under Bolland and a longer period of decay since the end of Rick Greenbury’s reign in the late 1990s, M&S investors and shoppers are steeled against false hope.