- Food margin struggled
- Big cost savings programme under way
The outlook for retail spending isn’t a pretty one, with consumer confidence at record lows and retailers putting out the most profit warnings on the London market in the third quarter of this year. Marks and Spencer (MKS) pointed to its middle-class customer base in these results as a cause for relative optimism despite planning for cratering demand.
The food and clothing retailer said that “a high proportion of [customers] are in above average paid jobs or retired”. "Many retain a savings cushion affording some resilience to the headwinds,” it added.