For the third quarter Marks & Spencer sales fell 3.7 per cent. Revenues were 0.7 per cent less than in the third quarter of 2018. Fashion sales generated through the online channel rose by 1.5 per cent though the increase was smaller than what the group had expected. The group continues to accelerate its closure plan intended for 2022 and has reorganized its fashion team by simplifying its structure and announcing 47 layoffs in the purchasing, marketing and logistics departments in 2019.

Performance in menswear and the gifting categories held the British group of department stores back from delivering a stronger result. But the changes made at the beginning of the year in the fashion division have arrested the worst of the issues of the first six months and the company is progressively building a much stronger team for the future. Marks & Spencer will incorporate a new supply chain director for the fashion division in spring. The chain’s fashion division employs a thousand people and has suffered stock ruptures throughout 2019.

The company is still at the early stages of far-reaching changes in range, in style, customer focus and channel mix. Its objective is to reshape its buy, deliver market leading value and focus on stylish and wearable wardrobe must-haves as it grows the business with family-aged customers seeking style, quality and value.