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LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - British retailer Marks & Spencer
said it would close all 11 franchise food stores it runs
with partner SFH in France over the coming months after new
trade rules in place since Britain left the European Union
hammered product availability.
The group said on Thursday that its remaining nine franchise
stores, run with Lagardere Travel Retail, will
continue to trade and the pair were working on a sustainable
future business model.
M&S Chairman Archie Norman has been complaining for months
that the retailer has struggled to get goods into EU members
Ireland and France since Britain left the EU's single market at
the beginning of the year, due to the huge amount of additional
paperwork that was required.
"M&S has a long history of serving customers in France and
this is not a decision we or our partner SFH have taken
lightly," said Paul Friston, M&S' international director.
"However, as things stand today, the supply chain
complexities in place following the UK’s exit from the European
Union, now make it near impossible for us to serve fresh and
chilled products to customers to the high standards they expect,
resulting in an ongoing impact to the performance of our
business."
The 11 stores that will close by the end of this year are
located predominantly across the high streets of Paris.
The nine stores run by Lagardere are located in travel hubs
such as airports, railway and metro stations.
In April, M&S reconfigured its food business in the Czech
Republic to remove supply chain risks. It took out all fresh and
chilled products from stores, and doubled ranges of frozen and
ambient products.
Last month, M&S upgraded its profit outlook after a jump in
demand for food in its home market and a surge in online clothes
sales indicated that its latest turnaround plan was starting to
deliver.
Shares in M&S were down 1.3% at 0951 GMT, paring 2021 gains
to 34.8%.
(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Kate Holton and Sarah
Young)
