M&S's shrinking fashion share gives new boss familiar challenge

London

TO FIX its fashion failings, Marks & Spencer Group plc has performed an about-face in its leadership selection process.

Unlike departing chief executive Marc Bolland, a Dutchman who was parachuted in from a supermarket chain in 2010, Steve Rowe is a company veteran who started stacking shelves as a teenager while his father was working his way through the ranks. He will need all that knowledge to rejuvenate M&S's clothing sales, which have been in decline for much of Mr Bolland's tenure.