Halcyon Days Are Over for M&S

Marks & Spencer is still Europe'sleading clothing retailer, just ahead of C&A (see Appendix), but a new report on" Clothing Retailing in Europe " from Retail Intelligence concludes that it is unlikely ever to return to its halcyon days when operating marginsexceeded 13% and its UK market share in clothing topped 16%. This is not only as a resultof its own difficulties and failings, but also because consumers are looking for greaterdiversity and a host of rivals (from the USA and Europe as well as from the UK) arerushing to satisfy this need.