The Rise And Fall Of Marks & Spencer [Paperback]

Judi Bevan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 2005

For decades Marks & Spencer was unassailable. It was the most successful retailer in the world. Its clothes were a byword for affordable quality and its food halls pioneered ready-prepared meals. It cared for its staff, the City loved it - the company was the perfect British success story. But then so suddenly that it took everyone by surprise Britain's best loved chain went down the tube. Customers abandoned the shops - suddenly they were they were dowdy, the staff deserted in droves and the shares plummeted. What went wrong?

Editorial Reviews

Review

'It is a case study that every organisation should read - from Coke to the BBC - with a market share so big it can only fall' Richard Northedge, Sunday Business 'The story of how Britain's most admired business lost friends and forgot how to influence people is vividly told by Judi Bevan. .... She shows how M&S became a prisoner of its history and then a parody of it.' Christopher Fildes Daily Telegraph

About the Author

Judi Bevan is a freelance business journalist who has worked extensively on the Sunday Times and Telegraph amongst many other papers. She is married to the former Business editor of the Sunday Times, John Jay.

Product Details

• Paperback: 284 pages
• Publisher: Profile Books Ltd; Updated edition (March 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861974310
• ISBN-13: 978-1861974310
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,934,144 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The fortunes of an iconic British retailer that has some lessons for American firms, December 7, 2008

By 

Craig Matteson (Saline, MI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Rise and Fall of Marks and Spencer: . And How it Rose Again (Paperback)

While Marks & Spencer is an iconic retailer in Britain and in many other countries around the world, they are unknown in the United States. While they made a disastrous purchase of Brooks Brothers, which they sold off for less than a third of their purchase price, they have stayed out of the United States. I found their story to be quite interesting, but then I am a bit of an Anglophile and made many business and personal trips to London and the Midlands during the 1990s.

The firm began as a tiny store in the last quarter of the 19th Century and grew rapidly. The two founders both died young, and it was the founder's son, Simon Marks, who led the firm for 48 years and made it into what it became in the British culture. Of course, we must also include Israel Sieff, who was Simon's lifelong friend and a charismatic counterpart to Lord Simon's driven personality.

The foundational principles of Marks & Spencer were product, people, and property. They had long term relations with their manufacturers and in many cases they bought everything the supplier could make in order to assure delivery, quality, and to sustain the British textile industry. The company also had a paternalistic and warm attitude towards its employees. They also bought the land on which their stores were built. The idea of freehold land is a much bigger deal in Britain than it is here in the United States where land is much more available and relatively cheap.

After the founding families stopped running the company, the professional managers changed policies that soon got the company into difficulty and it began to decline. While there were short periods of recover, it was not until the current chairman, Stuart Rose, aimed at restoring the core principles of Marks & Spencer and their fortunes truly revived.

Very good business biography and an interesting read. Why not take a look at a business that has been successful for more than a century and who operates in a very different way than most American businesses?

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

5.0 out of 5 stars Inside look at the glory and misery of a great retail house, January 12, 2009

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Rise and Fall of Marks and Spencer: . And How it Rose Again (Paperback)

Marks & Spencer is more than a British retailer of smart fashions at good value; it has deep roots in the British psyche. Generations have worked for the company or its suppliers, taking pride in its successes and suffering through its troubles. Judi Bevan captures that story in this lively, compelling history, introducing you to all of its executives and primary players. The store changed over time as the founders and their descendants finally gave way to professional managers who viewed M&S as a vehicle for personal ambition rather than as a family institution. To be fair, the world was changing, but the push for profits at all costs betrayed the company's principles. Chairman Stuart Rose has revived the company's culture while helping it flourish in a modern competitive environment. Therein lies a tale that getAbstract warmly recommends.