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M&S battle with suppliers as hard times hit our High Streets Monday, 21st November 2011
A dispute has arisen between Marks & Spencer and its supply chain over plans to make them contribute money towards its own £600 million refurbishment programme. A further sign that small businesses are being squeezed as consumer confidence continues to wane.
Marks & Spencer asked its suppliers to pay 1.3 per cent of their annual sales towards its growth strategy. However, one major supplier is believed to have refused to pay, with others expected to follow suit.
This news comes as figures released today reveal that the UK’s troubled high street suffered the sharpest fall in shopper numbers last month since Debember’s blizzards.
Fears are growing that a number of struggling stores will hit the wall before Christmas as they battle to pay their next quarterly rent bill, due on Christmas Day, with experts warning that the traditional High Street retail model is “dying out” in favour of online and smartphone shopping.
Lee Manning, restructuring partner at Deloitte, said: “We’re now feeling the ripple effect of what’s happened to the economy in 2008. There is less money going around. Retailers are looking long and hard at the lack of money in the economy and how that’s impacting their business.”
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Posted in Consumers, Department Stores, Online retail, Retail Industry Tagged Marks and Spencer, Lee Manning, Deloitte
