Marks and Spencer 2007 Annual Report Download - page 15

We said last year that our main aim was to provide great
quality, responsibly sourced clothing and home products in
our stores at the right time, the right price and in the right
quantities.
Womenswear, menswear, lingerie, childrenswear and home all
recorded strong growth in sales and market share as we also
brought in more choice and translated trends more quickly into
really wearable fashion, or stylish ranges for your home.
But customers expect us to do more. Relentless competition
from high street value retailers, supermarkets and established
rivals means we cannot be complacent. We need to keep
getting the basics right if we are to retain the support of
customers and keep improving our performance.
Performance
Our growth last year shows what we are capable of.
Womenswear executed its ‘every woman, every time’ strategy
with skill with marketshare increasing from 10.5% to 11.3%.
Key looks such as slim trousers, leggings, tunics, knitted
jumpers and jersey t-shirts proved successful and our new
denim shops traded well in a tricky market. Formal clothes
prospered – our £50 polyester and linen mix suit remained a
top seller – offsetting slower demand for casual trousers and
some leisure wear. ‘Limited Collection’ was well-received by
younger, more fashion-conscious shoppers.
‘Per una’ continued to grow strongly in the year, with sales of
£423.5m, as it celebrated its fifth birthday with strong ranges from
‘Collezione Italia’ fashion flair to stylish eveningwear and a re-
launched jeans collection.
Footwear also performed well, with improved choice and quality
– from £9.50 pumps to leather-lined ‘Autograph’ shoes. In
2007/08, we will be trialling a new women’s footwear layout to
make this enhanced offer easier to shop.
Menswear saw growth across the board from casual clothing to
tailoring and its share of the market grew from 9.6% to 10.3%.
Our shoe ranges benefited from new serviced shoe shops,
which will be rolled out to 30 modernised stores. Our three
menswear sub-brands also performed well. ‘Autograph’ was
the main engine for growth, ‘Blue Harbour’ remains the UK’s
biggest men’s casualwear brand and ‘Collezione’ continues to
be popular with men looking for classic European style. ‘Blue
Harbour Vintage’ performed less well and this more casual look
will be gradually absorbed into ‘Blue Harbour’. In suiting, deals
to provide suits for the England teams for the European football
championships and the Rugby World Cup are a great vote of
confidence in the quality of our tailoring.
In lingerie, offering more clearly defined brands helped us re-
establish our fashion credentials, provide real choice and boost
sales. ‘Ceriso’ and ‘per una’ are attracting younger customers
while ‘Adored’ continues to offer pretty femininity and ‘Truly
You’, sophisticated glamour. ‘Body’ remains popular with those
looking for simple style, while the introduction of the ‘Autograph’
has helped to highlight the great quality at the top of our price
range. We also remained the place women go to first for
www.marksandspencer.com/annualreport2007 MARKS AND SPENCER GROUP PLC 13
SOURCING AND SUPPLY CHAIN
It is 20 months since we opened our network of
sourcing offices: Hong Kong and Shanghai – which
opened in September 2006 – covering China and the
Far East; Bangalore, Colombo and Dhaka covering
South East Asia; and the Turkish office in Istanbul
focusing on Eastern Europe and North Africa.
With a staff of around 200, the offices have co-
ordinated the direct buying, production and
transportation of over 129 million items in 8,000 styles.
These offices are our eyes and ears on the ground,
helping us to operate more efficiently, such as
getting new fast fashion ranges from the drawing
board into stores in eight weeks. They also play a
key role in monitoring our suppliers’ labour
standards. Last year, 677 independent visits to
supplier factories were carried out to make sure they
were meeting our ethical standards on issues such
as fair pay and working conditions.
Our overseas offices also help us to find new
suppliers who we can work with directly to produce
great value products for our customers. In 2006/07,
we bought 28% of our clothing and home products
directly (last year 21%). Full Service Vendors still
account for the large majority of our supply and
remain key supplier partners, helping us to maintain
our record on innovation.
Executive Team Your Board Financial
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