Retail Day
Retail Week, today
Return of Rose’s rail
Sir Stuart Rose was has been on top form at the AGM this afternoon, bringing back his rail of top-selling lines to wow the army of private shareholders with his market trader-style patter. He is a proper trader and the retired military officers and housewives who take the trip from the provinces to the Festival Hall for the free lunch lap up his humorous style. You get the feeling most of the old dears in the hall fancy him.
There were the usual range of barmy questions about thermal underwear, bra sizes and in-store toilets, each of them taking about 10 minutes to ask, and usually delivered in fantastically old-fashioned accents, with the odd very thick Asian tone thrown in. Is actually great entertainment if you have time to spare to watch it.
Councillor Greenwood on behalf of the Local Authority Pension Fund, which has called for Rose to step down by next year, has just sat down. If you had to draw a pen picture of a northern councillor it would be him. He had a beard and stripy tie, and started his speech by pointing out that Dine in for £10 was no use to him, as he lived alone, but M&S non-iron shirts were the best invention ever from his point of view. Say no more.
In the end, and unsurprisingly, the vote was fairly decisively rejected. These votes will be a feature of M&S until Rose does finally go, but what is clear at every AGM is that Rose still retains the enthusiastic backing of the army of private shareholders that are so vital a part of the company’s makeup.
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