7 days ago
Marks & Spencer 'lost control' of staff discounts
Marks & Spencer has admitted that it lost control of a discount scheme for ex-employees which resulted in it being unsure whether some former staff who claimed the offer were even alive.
The high street giant's chairman, Archie Norman, told its annual gathering of shareholders last week that the system, which offered former M&S staff a lifetime 20 per cent discount if they had worked there for at least 10 years, had become so complicated that the firm was not able to check who exactly was using it.
'There was quite a lot of – I was going to say malpractice – there was a loss of control of the system,' Norman said. He added: 'What we found is that managing the discount became very, very complicated because we didn't really know who some of these people were. We didn't know in some cases whether they were still alive, whether they moved abroad, or exactly what was happening.'
It is also understood that the company had become concerned people were sharing their cards with friends and family, and that at one point, there were more people with the discount who had left the business than current employees.
The comments came after M&S changed its discount policy last year to include only staff who had worked there for a minimum of 25 years – an increase from a previous requirement of 10 years.
At the time, bosses put this down to the system becoming 'incredibly complicated and harder to track'.
But one irate investor last week grilled Norman (pictured) and chief executive Stuart Machin over the move, arguing it sent a 'very negative message' about its treatment of employees.
M&S is not the first retailer to make changes to its perks for departing staff.
In May, John Lewis told customers that it plans to end its lifetime discount cards for people who retire after at least 15 years working for the partnership.
Instead, it will offer perks connected to the length of service, which will expire after a certain amount of time.
Many of Britain's biggest retailers offer lifetime discounts for long-serving members of staff.
Supermarket chain Tesco offers a Colleague Clubcard for Life to staff who work there for at least 30 years, giving them 10 per cent off groceries.
Meanwhile, Sainsbury's staff who have worked there for a minimum of 25 years qualify for 'veteran' status and a discount card for 10 per cent off.
Shareholders also criticised the decision to hand Machin a hefty £1.6 million bonus for his performance in 2024, with one saying it was 'a privilege beyond the reasonable working life of many of your employees.'
Last year, Machin saw his package increase 39 per cent to £7.1 million.
