M&S earmarks £450m for three-year IT spend

to support its push into international market and online sales. The investment forms part of a three year company-wide IT plan, M&S chairman Stuart Rose revealed in the company's annual report published yesterday. The three-year roadmap "sets out how our systems will deliver on every aspect of our business plan, both within the UK and internationally," said Rose. "This means, for example, that our IT strategy for China, where we are only just establishing a foothold, is already in place." Rose said the strategy had helped M&S to develop faster and more efficient IT systems throughout the business. M&S has made "vital behind the scenes improvements" with the introduction of new financial and back-office systems. These have improved operational efficiency and also helped cut like-for-like IT running costs by 13.5%. he said. M&S... [read full story]