TIMESONLINE: Sir Stuart Rose's seemingly unstoppable progress towards £1 billion profits at Marks and Spencer has received a major setback after the UK's largest clothing retailer revealed the first fall in like-for-like sales for more than two years.
Sir Stuart, a retailer with 35 years in the business, said that his poorest customers were facing a squeeze and he called for a cut in interest rates to help ease the cost of borrowing for cash-strapped consumers.
“The consumer is facing a squeeze and we have been making sure that our customers continue to get a good deal, but everybody is under pressure, not just us,” he said.
Shares in M&S plunged almost 20 per cent in early trading 94p to 409p as the company reported poor Christmas trading figures. Marks & Spencer shares plunge on first sales drop in two years: Shares of Britain's largest clothing retailer plunge 18% on its first fall in sales for more than two years >>> By Angela Jameson
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