M&S expands in Ireland
Published: 16 May, 2006
Marks & Spencer has had its fair share of ups and downs since its humble beginnings in 1884 as a market stall. Just over 120 years later it has 400 stores throughout the UK, 150 stores worldwide and over 130 franchise businesses operating in 30 countries. Between the north and south, Ireland has 22 of these and the number is growing rapidly.
But business hasn't always been booming. M&S hit its peak in the late 90s only to be followed by a financial slump with the share price falling by more than two thirds and profits crashing from more than £1bn in 1997 and 1998 to £145m in the year ending March 31, 2001.
However since 2004, when Stuart Rose took over as chief executive, the company has been climbing back into customers' good books.
Throughout the good and bad times Marks & Spencer kept its stores in Ireland and Northern Ireland and is now working to expand its portfolio on the island.
In 1967 the company entered the Northern Irish market at a time when most businesses were reluctant, leading the way for investment by many other UK companies that followed. It was a further 12 years before it would open its first store in the south. However, since 2003 the number of stores in the Republic has doubled.
Earlier this year regional manager Jim McNicholas said the company was planning to double its share of the Irish grocery market to 10 per cent in the next five years by adding 25 stores to its current 13 in the republic, including 13 Simply Foods.
Even in the last six months the announcements of new stores opening north and south seem endless, leading to a rumour that M&S would be moving its flagship Belfast store on Donegall Place to the new Victoria Square development. But according to a company spokeswoman talk of the move and subsequent "pulling out" was only ever a rumour.
In November 2005, Stuart Rose announced two major investments in Northern Ireland during his first ever visit to the city at the time of the BCSC conference. Worth £20m, the projects will see the redevelopment of the company's Sprucefield store in Lisburn and the opening of a new 40,000 sq ft store at the Abbey Centre in Newtownabbey, Belfast, creating 250 new jobs.
In January 2006 the company announced a major extension of its Simply Food format with the acquisition of 28 stores on a lease from Iceland Foods.
And in February this year Marks & Spencer announced the opening of a store in the new St Laurence Centre in Drogheda, Co Louth, 35 miles north of Dublin. The store, which is scheduled to be opened in June 2006, will anchor this new shopping complex. Neil Hyslop, divisional executive for Ireland said the company had been searching for a suitable site north of Dublin for some time.
More recently in April 2006 M&S opened its twelfth store in the Republic at the new Whitewater centre in Newbridge, Co Kildare. The 20,000 sq ft store offers shoppers a full range of clothing, food and gifts.
M&S now employs 4,000 people on the island of Ireland and Irish producers supply over 200 products including poultry, red meat, milk, cheese, bread, smoked salmon, fruit, salads and vegetables to M&S stores in Ireland.
Already this year the company has launched the "Look Behind the Label" campaign in Ireland to tell customers about the way its products are sourced and made. At the same time it announced a decisive move into Fairtrade in both coffee and cotton, indicating a definite move back to consolidating itself as the leading retailer in quality, excellence and local produce.
