Marks & Spencer pours cold water on UK recovery
Despite reporting sales figures which are the best from the company for two years, Stuart Rose, the executive chairman of Marks & Spencer, believes that the UK recovery is still very fragile and 2010 is unlikely to be any better than 2009. This is something of a damning indictment of the UK retail sector after many investors and many companies appeared to have high hopes of recovery in the short to medium term. So where do we stand now?
The very fact that Stuart Rose refused to accept that the UK recession is now over is not only a body blow to the investment markets but a bodyguard to the UK government. The company has been hard at work trying to cut costs and improve profit margins, something which will see Marks and Spencer in good stead when the recession finally ends and the good days return. However, until then it is still likely to be a very difficult time on the high street and as we approach Christmas there are concerns that some companies could struggle to make it into the New Year.
It will be interesting to see if this particular trend is repeated across the sector because as we stated above, some investors had begun to believe the recession was over and the UK high street was looking onwards and upwards.
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