Marks & Spencer To Focus On Fashion

Stagnant Sales and uninspiring collections have rung a bell at Marks & Spencer, which admitted it needs to work harder to get its full fashion ranges into all its stores. The high street giant has been hit by lacklustre sales of its autumn and winter womenswear ranges. Yasmin Yusuf, Marks & Spencer's creative director for clothing, said the business needs to do more to get its full women's ranges into smaller stores, as well as to improve presentation across all stores.

As a result, customers in some areas have not benefited from the uplift in the M&S offer generated by more fashionable ranges such as per una, designed by George Davis. As the company launched its 2004 spring/summer womenswear range, Yusuf said: "As a brand we have moved on, but we have not taken enough newness all the way through to our smaller stores.

"Even our smaller stores are often the largest on a high street and shoppers will want to see a fashionable range."

20 November 2003 www.marksandspencer.com