Latest news with #ArchieNorman
Daily Mail
20 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Myth of bosses pay restraint: It's taxation not salaries that pushes execs out of the UK, says ALEX BRUMMER
Pay and bonuses in the boardroom and the City are among the most divisive issues in corporate life. Concern about adverse reaction to rewards for executives at failing Thames Water was among the factors behind KKR, not known for modesty in enriching its chieftains, pulling out of a bid despite completing its due diligence. This week eyebrows were raised when it emerged M&S boss Stuart Machin was to receive a pay and bonus package of £7.1million in the year to March 29. The handsome figure was agreed by the remuneration committee ahead of the debilitating cyber-attack. One wonders what the late chief executive Sir Richard Greenbury, who wrote a landmark report on restraining corporate remuneration, would make of that. Greenbury was the first M&S boss to report £1billion of profit, way back in 1997. That would be almost £2billion today, a mountain not yet scaled by Machin. He has been vital to M&S's return to health and his style of leadership, including round the clock duties in the systems incursion, is much admired by colleagues and associates. Credit for the turnaround and some brave decisions on store closures and renewals must also go to chairman Archie Norman and Machin's predecessor Steve Rowe. When it comes to boardroom rewards anything which has the number 100 in it attracts attention. Machin is unlikely to manage that. Jeff Fairburn was driven from office at housebuilder Persimmon in 2018 after it was revealed that he was up for a £100million award for building homes later found to have safety defects. At Reckitt Benckiser, former chief executive Bart Becht was rewarded with £100million after devising a super-brand strategy and powering the Cillit Bang maker into the FTSE 100. Recently it was the turn of Ryanair entrepreneur Michael O'Leary. His carrier may be short in charm and comfort, but has a remarkable record, air traffic control permitting, of getting passengers to destinations on time. It is not for nothing that the Irish-based carrier has a market value of £21billion, making it the most valuable in Europe. O'Leary has contrived to earn himself an options and bonus package worth €100million (£84.2million). He is not short of wealth. The shouty chief executive is a near-billionaire, owning a 4.15 per cent personal stake in the enterprise he helped create. Given his remarkable success, in contrast to the meltdown among cheapo carriers in the US, it is hard to argue against his rewards. Ryanair may be no-frills but it attracts a rich variety of investors, including funds run by Baillie Gifford, Rothschild Wealth and Jupiter. If there were to be objections to O'Leary's pay award it would be about the way it was achieved. He has become the recipient of the financial gusher after an earlier scheme expired and by means of big share buybacks which lifted the value of the stock to where it needed to be to hit the jackpot. A common complaint among UK executives, used as an excuse for shifting listings to New York, is that UK governance rules preclude big awards. As matters stand, O'Leary's payout is higher than that of GE Aerospace boss Larry Culp (he has just secured an enormous Qatar engine contract) who took home £66.4million. This kind of pay is as of nothing compared to the less transparent and lightly taxed awards which go to high-voltage principals in private equity. The O'Leary payout means he is committed to staying on until 2028, which is a big plus for investors. It is to the credit of Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Labour that, as part of her growth agenda, she chose to lift the cap on bankers' bonuses, critical to keeping financiers in London. Yet her assault on inheritance, pension pots and capital gains, with the threat of more to come, has driven some of the City's biggest rainmakers offshore. Recent over-generous handouts suggest that it is not pay which causes firms and executives to head elsewhere. Punishing taxation – as was the case in the pre-Thatcher era – is the real villain.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
M&S boss trousered more than £7m last year - before firm was hit crippling cyber attack
Marks & Spencer's boss was paid more than £7million last year – before the firm was hit by a crippling cyber attack. Stuart Machin saw his pay jump to £7.1million in the 12 months to March 29 from £5.1million the previous year. The details, published in the annual report yesterday, came as the High Street stalwart grapples with the fallout from a hack that has left it unable to sell clothes online for more than a month. An M&S spokesman said Machin's pay – which saw his basic salary of £843,000 topped up with bonuses and other awards – 'reflects the strong performance and growth of M&S under his leadership over the last three years'. Machin, 55, and chairman Archie Norman have overseen a dramatic turnaround at M&S. The share price has soared, taking the firm back into the FTSE 100. Profits have hit their highest level for more than 15 years. Machin's salary is set to increase by 2 per cent this year to £866,000. But there are questions over his bonus for the current year after the cyber hack, which the business estimates will cost it £300million. M&S said it is 'reviewing the performance metrics and targets' for its share award plan due to the cyber attack and will disclose these before the end of the year. Shares hit a nine-year high earlier this year, but have plunged by 9 per cent since details of the hack emerged over the Easter bank holiday. Shares yesterday gained 1.6 per cent to 380.3p. Norman said the incident had caused a 'significant' impact which 'will endure for some weeks or even months'. But he added: 'I am confident that in a year's time the cyber incident will prove to have been a bump in the road along the path to growth.' And Machin, who has led the firm since 2022, said: 'There is no change to our strategy and our longer-term plans to reshape M&S for growth and, if anything, the incident allows us to accelerate the pace of change as we draw a line and move on.' Customers' personal data, which is thought to have included names and contact details, was taken by the criminals. And the disruption last month resulted in some empty shelves in shops as well as forcing the retailer to suspend online shopping. Cyber criminals have also targeted the Co-op, Harrods, Christian Dior and Victoria's Secret in recent weeks.
Daily Mirror
22-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
Major change to TV ban on junk food adverts before 9pm
The plans had been due to be implemented in October but a four-month pause will now take place to allow officials to work on clearer guidelines on the restrictions Plans to ban TV adverts for junk food before 9pm will be delayed until January next year. Ministers will also change the legislation so that brand-only advertising, which does not show specific products high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS), is not caught under the rules. The plans had been due to be implemented in October. It is understood that a four-month pause will now allow the Department of Health and the Advertising Standards Authority to work on a clearer interpretation of the restrictions. This is despite many retailers, including major grocers, previously committing to a voluntary October start. The restrictions will now legally take effect on January 5. Regardless, key industry stakeholders including ITV, Channel 4, the Advertising Association and the British Retail Consortium, have committed to complying with the restrictions from October 1. The decision comes amid concerns raised by retailers and broadcasters about the impact of the ban and confusion over the rules. In April, the Government was forced to reassure businesses that pure brand messages are not "in scope" of the upcoming ban. Speaking at the Retail Technology Show earlier this year, M&S chairman Archie Norman said the government's new HFSS advertising rules "probably mean we can't run a Christmas ad", due to many festive foods not adhering to HFSS guidelines. A Government spokesman said: "Obesity robs children of the best start in life and sets them up for a lifetime of health problems, which costs the NHS billions. "We have secured a unique and public commitment from advertisers and broadcasters so that from October 1 2025, adverts for identifiable less healthy products will not be shown on TV before 9pm or at any time online, and this will be a legal duty from January 2026. "The junk food advertising restrictions on TV and online are a crucial part of our plan for change to raise the healthiest generation of children ever. By reducing children's exposure to junk food advertising, we will remove up to 7.2 billion calories from UK children's diets each year." An Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) spokesman said: "The Government has set out its intention to bring in amending legislation to push back the implementation date on LHF (less healthy food and drink) ad restrictions and to consult on changing the law on brand exemption. "We recognise the importance of this issue for a range of stakeholders, therefore, together with Ofcom, we will now carefully assess what this means for the process to develop and implement the rules and guidance and will provide a further update as soon as possible."
The Sun
21-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Marks and Spencer boss pledges high street giant ‘will bounce back stronger' from cyber attack
THE boss of Marks And Spencer has pledged the high street giant 'will bounce back stronger' from a cyber attack — and compared the financial toll to the Budget tax raid. Chief exec Stuart Machin admitted hackers had dealt a heavy blow to its hard-fought turnaround but was confident of weathering the storm. 3 3 The Easter attack saw it having to stop taking online fashion and home orders while stores ran out of some products — including favourites such as Percy Pigs. Mr Machin reckoned the £300million 'gross costs' will likely be halved because of insurance and the retailer's own savings. He told The Sun that Budget changes to National Insurance represented a £60million hit while new environmental packaging rules will add another £40million. The business also faces higher wages. This means Chancellor Rachel Reeves will cause much longer-lasting pain than the criminal hackers. Mr Machin said: 'In comparison this cyber incident is a one-off cost.' He described the decision to switch off online orders as 'chopping off the threat at its knees' and said he realised 'that we had to go through the pain to come back later', He called the early stages of the crisis as going into 'survival mode'. And he added the chaos of the last month had been 'a challenging time — but it is just a moment in time'. Five years ago chairman Archie Norman expressed his frustration that Covid store closures had robbed M&S of its turnaround 'just when we were showing a bit of leg'. This time around the cyber attack has overshadowed the story of its best profits in 17 years. M&S reveals SIX different Christmas food adverts featuring comedy legend and music star The business reported its adjusted profits — M&S's preferred measure — rose 22 per cent to £875million in the year to March 29. And while during the pandemic M&S was saddled with £1.4billion of debt, the balance sheet is 'the best its been for 30 years'. Sales were up six per cent to £13.9billion, boosted by a 8.7 per cent jump in food sales and a 3.5 per cent rise in fashion and home sales. However, a black spot was the 23.9 per cent drop in pre-tax profits to £511.8million — linked to a hefty £248.5million writedown of its joint venture in Ocado. NEW TECH FOR FUTURE M&S is taking advantage of its 'window of disruption' to speed up planned IT overhauls — and will keep much of the technology developed during its cyber crisis. The retailer admitted its former systems were too complicated and, early in the disruption, left shop staff having to resort to pen-and-paper stocktaking. It has developed new apps since, with one dubbed 'Henry Hoover' because it 'sucks up' product tagging codes to check stocks. A 'gap scanning app' notifies warehouses what is needed. SEVERN'S SURGING PROFITS SEVERN TRENT profits have flowed even higher — just as it hikes customer bills by more than a fifth. The 4.7million households served by the water firm will be outraged after it raised bills by £99 a year to an average £556. 3 Severn boss Liv Garfield justified the increase by saying that it will help fund £15billion of investment in upgrading its pipes, sewers and also build new reservoirs — creating 7,000 new jobs. The company's profits have surged by 59 per cent to £320million for the year ending March 31 while revenues rose by 3.8 per cent to £2.4billion. It has increased its dividend as a result by 4.2p to 121.7p for investors. The firm was fined £600,000 in November for polluting a kilometre of Trent River. Severn Trent said that it had missed its 'overall regulatory pollutants target' and reduced spills by 66 per cent. JD GETS KICKING JD SPORTS was given the boot by investors after a drop in profits — and a warning that Trump tariffs could lead to higher prices. Shares tumbled by up to ten per cent after the retailer reported pre-tax profits were down 11.8 per cent to £715million, despite revenues rising 8.7 per cent to £11.4billion. Investors were also spooked by a two per cent sales slump in the 13 weeks to May 2. The firm warned that the volatility from tariffs may see prices 'rise to some degree' for shoppers in the US. BRANCHES BOON THE boss of Nationwide stressed the importance of branches as she said they are still being used to take out new products. Debbie Crosbie told MPs April was Nationwide's busiest month ever for people taking out Cash individual savings accounts (ISAs) with 40 per cent of them written 'in branch'. The Treasury Select Committee also heard 30 per cent of current account openings are made in person. Nationwide, which acquired Virgin Money, says all branches will stay open until 2028.
Al Jazeera
21-05-2025
- Business
- Al Jazeera
UK retailer M&S puts cyberattack cost at $400m as disruptions continue
British retailer Marks & Spencer estimates that a cyberattack that stopped it from processing online orders and left store shelves empty will cost it about 300 million pounds ($403m). The company said in a business update (PDF) on Wednesday that disruption from the 'highly sophisticated and targeted cyber attack,' which was first reported around the Easter weekend, is expected to continue until July. Online sales of food, home and beauty products have been 'heavily impacted' because the company, popularly known as M&S, had to pause online shopping. The attack on one of the biggest names on the United Kingdom high street forced M&S to resort to pen and paper to move billions of pounds of fresh food, drinks and clothing after it switched off its automated stock systems. That led to bare food shelves and frustrated customers, denting profits. A month on, M&S's large online clothing service remains offline, and the attack has wiped more than a billion pounds off its stock market value. Chairman Archie Norman said the timing of the attack was unfortunate as M&S, which has been implementing a comprehensive turnaround plan since 2022, had been starting to show its full potential. 'But in business life, just as you think you're onto a good streak, events have a way of putting you on your backside,' he said. M&S, which has 65,000 staff and 565 stores, said the hack would cost about 300 million pounds ($403m) in lost operating profit in its year to March 2026, although it hopes to halve that impact through insurance, cost control and other actions. Chief executive Stuart Machin said the company is focused on recovery and restoring its systems and operations. 'This incident is a bump in the road, and we will come out of this in better shape,' Machin said. He did not provide any details on the attack or who might be behind it. Earlier this month, the company said customer personal data, which could have included names, emails, addresses and dates of birth, was taken by hackers in the attack. Two other British retailers, luxury London department store Harrods and supermarket chain Co-op, have also been targeted by cyberattacks at around the same time.
