Marks and Spencer plc (also known as M&S) is a British retailer headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, with over 700 stores in the United Kingdom and over 300 stores spread across more than 40 countries. It specializes in the selling of clothing and luxury food products. M&S was founded in 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in Leeds.
In 1998, it became the first British retailer to make a pre-tax profit of over £1 billion, though a few years later it plunged into a crisis which lasted for several years. In November 2009, it was announced that Marc Bolland, formerly of Morrisons, would take over as chief executive from Executive Chairman Stuart Rose in early 2010; Rose remained in the role of non-executive Chairman until he was replaced by Robert Swannell in January 2011. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
The Marks and Spencer graduate scheme
We think the best way to learn is by doing. So as an M&S graduate, you'll be given real responsibility from day one. You'll be working on real projects. And you'll be coming up with new ways of doing things that will make a real difference to our business.
Roles:
- Retail Management
- Head office
- HR
Choosing a scheme:
Most graduates apply for a place on our Retail Management scheme, where you'll work towards becoming a Commercial Manager in one of our stores. You don't need a particular degree, but you do need to be good with people, and have a sound commercial understanding.
We also have a 15-month HR scheme, where you'll spend time with both our in-store and Head Office HR teams. And if you have a relevant degree, you could apply for a Head Office role - like IT, design, buying, merchandising, product or food technology.
What you need:
For the Retail Management and HR schemes, it's not as important what discipline your degree is in. But for the other Head Office schemes, you'll ideally need a degree which is related to the role you'll be doing.
