LONDON (AFP) – British food-to-clothing retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) on Monday announced plans for more than 3,400 new jobs thanks to store openings, following sizeable shop closures and job losses during the pandemic.
M&S said in a statement that it would open 20 new large stores across the United Kingdom (UK). It comes after the group axed 7,000 jobs as Britain suffered COVID lockdowns.
The group on Monday said it would invest GBP480 million (USD585 million) in the latest project. The changes would result in more than “3,400 new jobs” by next year, the statement added.
“It comes after M&S reported a bumper holiday period,” noted head of investment at Interactive Investor Victoria Scholar.
“However, cost pressures and macroeconomic headwinds continue to be key challenges.” Scholar said shares in M&S had lost about one third of their value since a year ago. Like a number of Western companies, M&S last year exited from Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
In 2021, M&S decided to shut more than half of its shops in France, as Britain’s departure from the European Union affected post-Brexit supplies of fresh and chilled food products.
