Rose loses the magic at M&S

The retail wizard is looking like a straw man ahead of Wednesday's annual meeting, says Zoe Wood There are two big shows playing at London's Royal Festival Hall this month - one is the Wizard of Oz, the other is the Marks and Spencer annual meeting, starring Sir Stuart Rose. One plot features an all-powerful leader whose loyal followers are devastated when he turns out to be an ordinary man, the other is the Wizard of Oz. Both performances are likely to be sell-outs. When Rose goes on stage on Wednesday afternoon he will face wrath rather than rapture for the first time since he took over at the high-street giant in 2004. It should have been a crowning performance, coming on the back of a knighthood and annual profits of £1bn at the retailer for the first time in a decade. But a series of dramatic twists have recast him as... [read full story]