M&S shareholders fail to back chairman's role

Updated 17.23 Wed Jul 09 2008

Keywords: food prices, recession, high street, money, sir stuart rose, m&s

More than one in five Marks & Spencer shareholders have refused to back the controversial dual role of boss Sir Stuart Rose.

Around 22 per cent of investors either abstained or voted against his reappointment as executive chairman, which combines the role of chairman and chief executive.

The vote - taken at the company's annual general meeting in London - comes in the wake of a shock profits warning last week, which saw M&S's shares slump by a third in value

The post has been criticised by many of M&S's major institutional shareholders as being in breach of corporate governance best practice.

The vote - taken at the company's annual general meeting in London - comes in the wake of a shock profits warning last week, which saw M&S's shares slump by a third in value.

Sir Stuart blamed the company's woes on a general economic slowdown, saying consumers were feeling the squeeze from a higher cost of living.

He was backed in his executive chairman role by independent deputy chairman Sir David Michels, who said Sir Stuart had the right set of skills to take M&S forward.

Sir David said: "In these somewhat uncertain economic times, continuity becomes more important."

He added: "The decision to retain Sir Stuart was taken after careful deliberation. There has been much comment and some criticism over the combined role of chief executive and chairman.

"While we are sensitive to this criticism, myself and the board are entirely and unanimously convinced that this route is the right one for your company."

But some shareholders were not so impressed, including Peter Hampshire, 73, from Richmond, south west London.

He said his main concern was the dual role: "It is a question of balance - you need two strong people at the top. It's best practice to split the roles."

Sir Stuart has pledged to remain with the retailer until 2011.

He told shareholders: "Despite reports that you may have read in the papers, the leadership team is strong. I fully expect to be held to account for the actions I take."

He added: "My non-executive team is a strong, independent and challenging team. Rest assured, they keep us on our toes."

The company has 643 stores in the UK, including 144 franchises and has 75,000 staff in total, of which 72,000 are UK-based.