Profile: M&S boss Sir Stuart Rose

Despite his record of success, Stuart Rose is under real pressure

Marks & Spencer boss Sir Stuart Rose is getting to ready to face a big investor revolt at Wednesday's annual shareholder meeting.

For a number of years after stepping in to fight off a takeover bid from Sir Philip Green in 2004, Sir Stuart was lauded by investors and retail experts alike.

He was credited with refocusing and re-energising the business, giving it cachet among younger, more fashion-savvy customers and making it more profitable.

But those bouquets have turned to brickbats in recent years.

First, Sir Stuart faced accusations in March 2008 that he was becoming too powerful, after he surprisingly agreed to combine the role of chairman with his existing position of chief executive.

Although he won a shareholder vote to reappoint him last year, 22% of investors did not back him, and this year the issue has come round again.

Investor backlash

Some institutional shareholders, led by the Local Authority Pension Fund forum, have put down a resolution calling on Marks and Spencer to appoint a new chairman by July 2010. Although the vote is non-binding, Sir Stuart may feel he has to go because he will have lost the confidence of his owners.

M&S's shares are below the price offered by Philip Green in 2004

Some argue that Sir Stuart, who was educated at a Quaker boarding school before starting his career in retail in 1972 as an M&S trainee, has garnered too much power and that this is damaging for the business.

But the 58-year-old son of a civil servant has played up the necessity of decisive leadership at a time in which conditions on the High Street are deteriorating rapidly.

Record of success

It remains to be seen whether small investors - of which there are thousands - will cast aside doubts over claims that Sir Stuart's style has become too autocratic and place their faith in a man seen as one of the UK's most successful retailers.

They will remember the trouble that M&S was in when he arrived from Arcadia in 2004, losing market share to hipper and cheaper rivals and struggling to argue a case for remaining independent.

His turnaround strategy - which involved taking control of women's fashion brand Per Una, selling non-core businesses and injecting glamour into its brand by using celebrities such as Twiggy and Antonio Banderas in its advertising - proved highly successful.

Under his leadership, M&S won back its reputation for offering value for money, while a strong commitment to ethical values and an environmentally-friendly approach also had a beneficial effect.

M&S has hinted it will change the way it advertises and prices food

This was not the first time Sir Stuart, who was knighted in 2007 for services to the retail industry and corporate social responsibility, had worked his retail magic.

As chief executive of Argos in 1998, he secured a higher price for the catalogue chain when it was sold to retail giant GUS.

Later, as boss of troubled cash-and-carry business Booker, he arranged its merger with food retailer Iceland, going on to become the enlarged group's chief executive.

But it was as head of Arcadia, which he joined in 2000, that Sir Stuart really secured his reputation for success in Britain's retail sector.

He turned around a company with more than £250m of debt, before presiding over its sale in 2002 to Philip Green for £855m - making £25m out of the deal himself.

Changing conditions

But as a member of a charity consortium which owned a runner in the 2006 Grand National, Sir Stuart will be aware that a chief executive, just like a jockey, is only as good as his last race.

M&S's share price is in the doldrums, languishing around 310 pence, miles off its 700p high of 2007 and below the price which Philip Green offered in 2004.

As long as this remains the case, Sir Stuart will be under pressure from analysts and shareholders.

His most immediate challenge is to steer the business through the economic downturn.

The last set of figures, published in recent weeks, indicates that Marks and Spencer may well have weathered the worst of the recession. Rather than taking any credit for that, Sir Stuart is facing a battle to allow him to leave the firm at the time of his own choosing.

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