An Analysis of Marks and Spencer

The main source of data presented in this paper is the official website of Marks and Spencer. The details of links are provided at the end of this paper under the title of References.

There are many social factors that affect Marks and Spencer such as level of education, lifestyle, mobility of population and income distribution. To keep up with the social affect Marks and Spencer has now a shop online selling its food, clothing and any other product they would have in stores. This is part of their plan to become a multi-channel retailer. It is obvious to us all that the real factor is to keep up with its competitive market such as Dunnes Stores. Marks and Spencer appeal to different markets in terms of social class and other demographics. Also to keep up with the social change Marks and Spencer bought their clothes range up to date to keep up with latest trends and to keep their customers interested. Consumer purchases are influenced by many factors like cultural, social, and personal. Marks and Spencer cannot control these factors but they must take them into account, which they have done as they are a well-positioned and a competitive player in their market.

Marks and Spencer Group (M&S) is the premier retailer in clothing, foods and home ware within the United Kingdom. The company’s commitment to quality, value, service, innovation and trust is a key contributor to their success as a high street retailer in the UK. Their current core UK operations centre around three divisions, food, general merchandise (including clothing and home ware), and the financial services industry. Therefore Tesco plc is the prime UK retailer to analyse and compare growth, financial performance and the financial status of M&S Plc in line with other competitors within the same industry.

Predominantly M&S are known as a clothing retailer but has grown organically into food and furnishings but, market watchers tend to judge their performance on the

This report will demonstrate, apply and evaluate knowledge and understanding of key managerial disciplines of the chosen high street retailer, Marks and Spencer, in different real-world global contexts. According to the report by Deloitte, the retail industry is undergoing immense changes and faces a tough competitive

The primary objective of this report is to provide a financial performance analysis of Marks & Spencer group plc. This will be achieved by a detailed ratio analysis on financial data available in latest annual report of the company for the year ended March-2013. The attention during ratio analysis will be on horizontal and vertical analysis as well as the comparison of these ratios with the industry. Moreover, the report will also give a brief business analysis of the company.

Marks and Spencer face many ethical issues in their daily activities and these affect the public and their business in different ways.

They would usually want Mark and Spencer to produce high-quality, value-for-money products. Customers often identify with the brands they buy. They like to see improvements that give them better value for money. Customers would want aims and objectives that are focused on satisfying their needs as customers. Mark and Spencer do have a number of objectives associated with customer satisfaction, which customers seek to influence.

Grand Metropolitan PLC is the world’s largest wine and spirits seller. It mainly operated in London, USA. In 1991, it beats market expectation with a 4.8% increase in pretax profits, and the company Chairman stated that company’s goal “to constantly improve on”. Despite the great performance in the world recession in 1991, the price of GrandMet shares was 10% below the average price/earnings ratio of the companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index. And more important, rumors had that GrandMet, valued at more than $14 billion in the stock market, maybe a takeover target. The management dilemma is to understand why the company’s stock is traded below of what considered being the right price and whether the company is truly

Marks and Spencer (M&S) p.l.c. is one of the largest retailers in the United Kingdom with a selling space of 12.5 million square feet, was established in 1884 as ‘Penny bazaar’. M&S sells clothing, food, footwear, gifts and home furnishings in its 760 stores around the world. The company’s wholly own and franchise stores operates in Europe, Hong Kong, Far East, Australia, Middle East, the Bahamas and Bermuda making a total of 34 countries.

This document/report throws light on the business environment of Marks and Spencers and the analysis of strategic position, strategic direction, success criteria and backed up by future recommendations for the company based on all the mentioned aspects. The frameworks used to analyse the company are:

The purpose of this report is to determine the potential factors to sustain the investment within stock market of Mark and Spencer Company. This report starts by presenting background of the company and their current position, furthermore the microeconomic and macroeconomic analysis including PESTLE and SWOT analysis will be taken into account. Moreover, the financial performance will be the most important part to analysis their annual profits, share price and price of earning per share of company. Finally, this paper concludes by providing the recommendation for the company to enhance their performance and the suggestion for investors in order to support their decision-making.

Marks & Spencer was once a top-of-the-line company in terms of its quality and selection. However, it is reported that the company has become" an out-of-date, uncompetitive blur on the UK stock market. The decline for Marks & Spencer began in the latter part of the 1990s and due to the pressure of a "changing economic demand causing Marks & Spencer to undergo continual business realignment"¦" (IBM, Ltd. 2005, p.1)

Marks and Spencer is one of Britain's most well-known, beloved stores. Within its walls, you can get everything from clothes to quintessentially British food. It is a one-stop shop for many Britons who adore it. Because of its popularity and singular British-ness, the company thought to expand into Western Europe. After all, there were many communities of British expatriates all over the continent who would probably appreciate being able to get a little taste of home in their new locations. You can't buy meat pies and English tea just anywhere, after all.

The early 1990 's marked the beginning of a sea change in customer 's expectations with regard to good quality, healthy food. M&S image as a respectable retailer with its focus on providing a wide range of premium foods meant that the M&S brand, where food was concerned, became regarded as something of a luxury.