The 18 Marks and Spencer stores in the Republic of Ireland will not be affected by a round of closures announced this morning. But one of the company's shops in Northern Ireland - in Newtownards - is to close with the loss of 37 jobs.
M&S has 18 stores in the Republic, employing just under 2,800. Three of the stores are the company's food chain Simply Food, the rest are general stores selling food, homewares and clothes.
In an interim management statement today, Marks and Spencer says it is proposing to close 27 stores. 25 of these are Simply Food stores and two main chain M&S stores. The closures mean the loss of up to 780 jobs. M&S also wants to cut 450 head office positions.
This morning the retail group reported its worst quarterly sales performance for a decade. It said that UK like-for-like sales tumbled 7.1% in the 13 weeks to December 27 - its biggest sales collapse since July-September 1999 - despite heavy price-cutting in the run-up to Christmas.
The 125 year old clothing, food and homewares group with 600 stores in Britain is seen as a benchmark for the retail sector. It employs around 75,000 people worldwide.
The cost-cutting measures are expected to save £175-200m sterling in the company's next fiscal year, which begins on April 1.
'We are aware that the proposed changes will be difficult for those members of staff impacted, but given that we expect challenging economic conditions to continue for at least the next 12 months we believe we are taking the right action to maintain the strength of our business,' said chairman Stuart Rose.
The UK retail sector, buckling under the weight of a looming recession, has already witnessed the collapse of retailers including Woolworths, furniture group MFI and entertainment retailer Zavvi.
In the run-up to Christmas, M&S held two one-day sales when it slashed prices by 20% in an attempt to attract more festive shoppers. M&S had revealed in November that first-half net profit sank 43% as cash-strapped consumers tightened their belts.
