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* M&S to close 11 food stores run with SFH
* Will retain nine stores run with Lagardere
* M&S says new rules make it 'near impossible'
(Adds comments from British PM's spokesperson)
LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - British retailer Marks & Spencer
said it would close all 11 French franchise food stores
it runs with its partner SFH because trade rules in place since
Britain left the European Union had hammered product
availability.
M&S said on Thursday that its remaining nine French
franchise stores, run with Lagardere Travel Retail,
will continue to trade and the pair were working on a
sustainable future business model.
Chairman Archie Norman has complained for months that M&S
was struggling to get goods into Ireland and France since
Britain left the EU single market at the beginning of the year,
due to the huge amount of extra paperwork.
"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," Paul Friston, M&S' international director, said.
"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," he added.
The 11 stores that will close by the end of this year are
located predominantly across the high streets of Paris, while
the nine run by Lagardere are located in travel hubs such as
airports, railway and metro stations.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended the
Brexit process.
"We believe that the approach we have taken is the correct
one. It is something that the public voted for and it is already
bringing benefits to the public," the spokesperson said.
The government had also provided significant funding, advice
and support throughout the Brexit period so companies could
prepare and understand the changes, they added.
In April, M&S reconfigured its food business in the Czech
Republic to remove supply chain risks. It took all fresh and
chilled products from its 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.
M&S shares were down 2% at 1237 GMT, paring their 2021 gains
to 33.6%.
(Reporting by James Davey; additional reporting by Kylie
MacLellan, Editing by Kate Holton, Sarah Young and Alexander
Smith)
