UK’s M&S to close 11 stores in France after Brexit, Retail News, ET Retail

LONDON: British retailer Marks & Spencer said it would near all 11 franchise meals merchants it operates with companion SFH in France about the coming months immediately after new trade guidelines in location due to the fact Britain remaining the European Union hammered item availability.

The group reported on Thursday that its remaining 9 franchise outlets, run with Lagardere Vacation Retail, will continue to trade and the pair ended up doing work on a sustainable future business model.

M&S Chairman Archie Norman has been complaining for months that the retailer has struggled to get products into EU users Ireland and France given that Britain still left the EU’s solitary market place at the commencing of the year, because of to the huge quantity of further paperwork that was demanded.

“M&S has a very long historical past of serving clients in France and this is not a selection we or our husband or wife SFH have taken lightly,” claimed Paul Friston, M&S’ worldwide director.

“Nonetheless, as points stand now, the provide chain complexities in location following the UK’s exit from the European Union, now make it in close proximity to impossible for us to serve clean and chilled solutions to shoppers to the significant expectations they be expecting, resulting in an ongoing affect to the efficiency of our business.”

The 11 retailers that will shut by the close of this 12 months are situated predominantly across the substantial streets of Paris.

The nine suppliers operate by Lagardere are situated in vacation hubs these types of as airports, railway and metro stations.

In April, M&S reconfigured its meals business in the Czech Republic to eliminate source chain pitfalls. It took out all refreshing and chilled goods from shops, and doubled ranges of frozen and ambient items.

Previous thirty day period, M&S upgraded its income outlook immediately after a leap in demand for foods in its property sector and a surge in on line outfits gross sales indicated that its most up-to-date turnaround prepare was starting off to produce.

Shares in M&S were down 1.3% at 0951 GMT, paring 2021 gains to 34.8%.