By James Davey

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Marks & Spencer stated on Thursday it could launch a wave of visitor clothes manufacturers on its web site this spring, together with Hobbs, White Stuff, Joules and Sloggi, in a bid to speed up progress in line.

The UK clothes business has been hammered by COVID-19 lockdowns, forcing retailers to depend on on-line channels.

M&S chief government Steve Rowe stated final yr the group, nonetheless Britain’s largest clothes retailer by way of worth, was altering technique and would promote different manufacturers to broaden its enchantment.

In September, he established a web based partnership with No one’s Baby and likewise collaborated with Early Studying Middle. In January, M&S purchased the Jaeger model.

He stated the opposite manufacturers coming on-line in March, April and Could can be: Section Eight, Sosandar, Triumph, JACK & JONES, Seasalt Cornwall, YAS and SELECTED HOMME / SELECTED FEMME.

The primary wave of visitor manufacturers can be marketed and offered beneath the “Manufacturers at M&S” banner.

M&S stated practically 10% of shoppers who bought No one’s Baby ladies’s clothes had been new to M&S ladies’s clothes.

The brand new manufacturers can be available in shops sooner or later, he stated.

When the pandemic hit, M&S was within the midst of its newest plan to enhance its fortunes, together with value cuts and retailer closings. Rowe stated these measures can be accelerated.

(Reporting by James Davey; Modifying by Edmund Blair)