REG - Marks & Spencer Grp - Annual Financial Report

Marks and SpencerAnnouncement

03/06/2020 09:30

RNS Number : 8041O
  
Marks & Spencer Group PLC
  
03 June 2020
  
 

 
Marks and Spencer Group plc (the "Company") 
 
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2020
 
In compliance with Listing Rule 9.6.1, the Company announces that the following documents have today been submitted to the UK Listing Authority, and will shortly be available for inspection via the National Storage Mechanism at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism:
 
·           Annual Report and Financial Statements 2020;
 
·           Notice of Annual General Meeting of the Company, which will be broadcast from Waterside House, 35 North Wharf Road, London W2 1NW at 11am on Friday 3 July 2020; and
 
·           Proxy forms for the 2020 Annual General Meeting.
 
In accordance with DTR 6.3.5(3) the Annual Report and Financial Statements 2020 and the Notice of Annual General Meeting are accessible on corporate.marksandspencer.com/investors.    
 
A condensed set of Marks and Spencer Group plc financial statements and information on important events that have occurred during the year and their impact on the financial statements were included in the Company's preliminary results announcement on 20 May 2020. That information together with the information set out below which is extracted from the Annual Report and Financial Statements constitute the requirements of DTR 6.3.5 which is to be communicated via an RIS in unedited full text. This announcement is not a substitute for reading the full Annual Report and Financial Statements. Page and note references in the text below refer to page numbers in the Annual Report and Financial Statements 2020. To view the preliminary results announcement, visit the Company website: corporate.marksandspencer.com/investors.    
 
For further information, please contact:
Group Secretariat: +44 (0)20 3934 3043
 
 
Additional Information
 
Principal risks and uncertainties
 
Below are details of our principal risks and uncertainties and the mitigating activities in place to address them. It is recognised that the Group is exposed to risks wider than those listed. However, we have disclosed those we believe are likely to have the greatest impact on our business at this moment in time and those that have been the subject of debate at recent Board or Audit Committee meetings.
 




DESCRIPTION & CONTEXT


MITIGATING ACTIVITIES





TRADING PERFORMANCE RECOVERY
 A failure of our Food and/or Clothing & Home business to effectively and rapidly respond to the pressures of an increasingly competitive and changing retail environment, including the impact of Covid-19, would adversely impact customer experience, operational efficiency and business performance.
M&S competes with a diverse range of retailers - in both Food and Clothing & Home - in an increasingly challenged sector faced with continued cost and pricing pressures, shifts in consumer behaviours and broader macroeconomic uncertainties. Delivering the right product ranges that appeal to our customers, clear and simple pricing architecture and availability are  critical  to  the  growth of our business
In addition, Covid-19 has  had,  and continues  to  have, a significant negative impact on our trading performance in line with UK retail more widely. Managing the growth in surplus stock resulting from the lockdown is an area of business focus.
Delays in implementing the targeted transformational improvements, or the business recovery plans in response to Covid-19, across the business could negatively impact business performance.
 


-  Continued to strengthen capabilities of our senior leadership teams in both Food and Clothing & Home through targeted recruitment.
-  Established operating model consisting of a family of accountable businesses who share M&S brand values, colleagues and support functions, technology and customer data.
-  Managing directors for each of these businesses who have full accountability for their performance including for marketing, supply chain, finance and technology.
-  Individual Business Boards to enable executive oversight and effective governance of each business.
-  Continued delivery against business-specific transformation plans incorporating discipline around cost, prices, availability, value, ranges, broadening customer appeal and promotions across both businesses.
-  Development, ongoing update and monitoring of business- specific planning for the business restore as future stages of the lockdown are communicated. This includes development of a clear strategy to manage the wide-ranging implications of the lockdown period on all aspects of the Clothing & Home supply chain and inventory management.
-  Planned improvements to online trading by delivering both the Ocado online launch in Food and our online ambitions for Clothing & Home.
 




BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION
A failure to execute our business transformation and cultural change initiatives with pace, consistency and cross-business buy-in will impede our ability to improve operational efficiency and competitiveness.
The business has continued to deliver the range of projects underpinning the transformation, including:
-  The reshaping, modernising and effective management of a UK store estate that is fit for the future, with the right stores in the right space, improved integration between online and store sales and shopping facilities expected by our target customer groups.
-  Modernising our supply chain and logistics activities to improve speed, operational effectiveness and availability and to reduce costs.
-  Delivering our Digital First ambitions to improve customer experience, reduce costs and work smarter across the business.
In response to Covid-19, we will need to re-evaluate priorities and their delivery, including acceleration of initiatives to respond to permanent changes in customer behaviours or to change our own working practices, balancing delivery of the transformation with strict cash management disciplines and rapidly reacting to the consequences of the pandemic.
A pause or delay to key components of the business improvement programme because of the virus response or other reasons may delay delivery of the transformation objectives.
 


-  Adoption of a 'Never the Same Again' approach to all aspects of business operations and prioritisation of the most critical improvement initiatives.
-  Comprehensive review of all operational and capital expenditure to allocate spending to those activities aligned to the transformation agenda and stop others in view of Covid-19 priorities and recovery.
-  Maintenance of programme governance principles for all ongoing projects.
-  Periodic independent audit reviews of key programme delivery and reporting to the Audit Committee.
-  Maintaining momentum to deliver ongoing initiatives to transform our supply chain capabilities in all parts of the business. For example, in Food the Vangarde supply chain programme has demonstrated improvements to food waste levels and availability.
-  Continued focus on the store estate transformation with new initiatives like redevelopment of existing sites to make effective use of space, resetting rental rates with landlords and delivery of new format stores.
 




LIQUIDITY AND FUNDING
Significantly reduced trading over an extended and currently undetermined timeframe, combined with an inability to effectively manage expenditure against revised targets, could impact the business's ability to operate within and secure additional committed credit facilities.
Availability of, and access to, appropriate sources of funding is required for core business operations and the successful and timely delivery of our transformation plan. In addition, cash management has additional complexity as a consequence of the ongoing trading restrictions during lockdown, the associated reduction in cash generation and planning for the impact of furloughing, deferral of tax payments and other emergency measures.
Brexit adds a further dimension to this risk because of the potential impact on currency movements, corporate bond rates, changes in credit regulations and the extent of government support of credit markets.
An inability to maintain appropriate short- and longer-term funding to meet business needs (both operational and strategic), make payments on debt and to effectively manage associated risks, such as significant fluctuations in foreign currency or interest rate changes, may have an adverse impact on business viability and performance.
 


-  Continued use of the existing committed facilities available to the business, including the £1.1bn revolving credit facility.
-  Immediate measures implemented to manage cash and liquidity, including:
·   Freezing of discretionary spend
·   Significant reduction in capital spending
·   Dividend deferral
·   Temporary furlough of colleagues
·   Enhanced controls over spending
·   Confirmation of our eligibility under the UK government's CCFF scheme
·   Use of the business rates holiday, tax payment deferral and other government support measures
-  Formal agreement received from the syndicate of lending banks to relax or waive covenant conditions for our revolving credit facility.
-  Close monitoring and stress testing of projected cash and debt capacity, financial covenants and other rating metrics.
-  Regular dialogue with the market and rating agencies.
-  Review of counterparty credit risk and limits in line with our risk appetite and treasury policy.
 




BREXIT 
An inability to quickly identify and effectively respond to the challenges of a post-Brexit environment could have a significant impact on performance across our business.
The potential implications of the UK's exit from the European Union are significant and include:
-  Deterioration in customer sentiment.
-  Operational complexity and cost due to restrictions on the movement of goods and stricter border controls (including the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland).
-  Costs passed through from our suppliers.
-  Continuity of supply and supplier viability.
-  Import and export duties.
-  Volatility in currency and corporate bond rates.
-  Tightening of the labour market.
-  Additional regulatory responsibilities and costs.
-  Increased complexity and cost in our international operations, including our franchise activities.
While an orderly exit following the end of the transitional period would allow business planning to more effectively address the consequences of change against a defined timeframe, the level of change required as part of any deal is yet unclear. A no deal outcome would have a more immediate and negative impact.
The focus on the response to Covid-19 and the possibility that the government may not seek an extension of the transitional period may mean there is an increased risk of a 'no deal' departure and the consequential ability to implement the necessary measures on a timely basis.





-  A cross-business working party is in place to undertake scenario planning including financial and operational impact assessments and to consider and drive readiness requirements.
-  Each of our family of businesses has undertaken a risk assessment to prioritise and plan for the operational changes they will need. Teams have continued to progress planning during the current pandemic lockdown.
-  Updates are provided to the Board and Audit Committee outlining risks and actions being undertaken.
-  We are engaged with the government and industry bodies to represent M&S's views, including the UK Border Development Group with access to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to support operational planning.




FOOD ONLINE
A failure to effectively execute the launch of M&S products for Ocado Retail would significantly impact the achievement of our strategy to take our food online in a profitable, scalable and sustainable way.
The investment in Ocado Retail is part of our strategy for improving our online reach and capability. To achieve this, we are committed to providing M&S product ranges and to have established new product development capabilities for Ocado Retail by the beginning of September 2020.
Activities include:
-  Finalisation of all commercial agreements with suppliers.
-  Delivery of a range of M&S products to allow a seamless transition for Ocado customers on launch.
-  Establishing data and technology interfaces with Ocado Retail.
-  Developing operating procedures and ways of working between the two businesses.
An inability to establish effective operating protocols in advance of the launch date, whether related to the impact of Covid-19 or other factors, could delay delivery of the expected benefits from our investment in Ocado Retail.
 


-  M&S nominated directors are part of the Ocado Retail Board and participate in leadership forums.
-  The establishment and continued operation of a dedicated M&S programme team, supported by senior leadership, to oversee all aspects of project delivery including commercial agreements, product range, and establishment of ongoing operating processes.
-  Joint working group in place with Ocado Group Plc and Ocado Retail to establish the systems, processes and ways of working to coordinate sourcing, product development, product ranging, customer data and marketing.
-  Regular remote communication continues under lockdown with the Board, senior management and the delivery teams.
 




FOOD SAFETY & INTEGRITY
Failure to prevent or effectively respond to a food safety incident, or to maintain the integrity of our products, could impact business performance, customer confidence and our brand.
Food safety and integrity remain vital for our business. We need to manage the potential risks to customer health and consumer confidence that face all food retailers.
This includes considering how external pressures on the food industry and wider economic and environmental changes could impact the availability and integrity of our food, the ability to operate all routine controls, our reputation and shareholder value.
Many of these external pressures, including the impact of Covid-19, inflationary costs, labour quality and availability, increased regulatory scrutiny, animal disease, and the unknown impact of Brexit, are, to a large degree, outside our control but are nevertheless monitored.
 


-  Oversight from Customer and Brand Protection Committee.
-  Food Safety Policy and Standards are in place, with clear accountability set at all levels.
-  Defined Terms of Trade, manufacturing standards, specifications for "from farm to fork" and standard operating procedures (stores, support centre and supply chain).
-  New food initiatives assessed for food safety risks.
-  Qualified and capable technical team, with continuing professional development programme.
-  Store, supplier and depot audit programmes, including unannounced visits and raw material testing, adapted to be managed remotely where site visits are not possible.
-  Introduction of modified processes, including enhanced monitoring of quality and customer complaints, to mitigate risk during the Covid-19 lockdown and ongoing assessment of the need for further change.
-  Quarterly review of our control framework.
-  Established processes for the development and legal sign-off for product packaging.
-  Documented and tested crisis management plan.
-  Membership of the Food Industry Intelligence Network at Board and Operating Committee level.
 




CORPORATE COMPLIANCE & RESPONSIBILITY
Failure to deliver against our legal, regulatory, social and environmental commitments would undermine our reputation as a responsible retailer, may result in legal exposure or regulatory sanctions, and could negatively impact our ability to operate and/or remain relevant to our customers.
The increasingly broad and stringent legal and regulatory framework for retailers creates pressure on both business performance and market sentiment requiring continual improvements in how we operate as a business to maintain compliance.
More recently, the requirements triggered by the Covid-19 outbreak, including in relation to safety and social distancing, have in a short time frame necessitated immediate changes to operating procedures in our distribution network, stores and support centres.
In addition, the expectations of our customers and other stakeholders (including regulators) are increasingly demanding. The environmental impact of food, packaging and the sustainability of clothing are all increasingly relevant. Speed in responding to evolving expectations is vital to maintaining a positive business perception.
Non-compliance may result in fines, criminal prosecution for M&S or colleagues, litigation, additional investment to rectify breaches, disruption or cessation of business activity, as well as have an impact on our reputation and financial results.
 


-  A Code of Conduct is in place and has recently been reviewed and updated. This is underpinned by policies and procedures, including human rights, modern slavery, global sourcing, data protection, anti-bribery and corruption, health & safety, food safety, national minimum wage, equal pay, cyber and data security. An annual self-assessment compliance process is also in place.
-  Immediate crisis response capability (via the Crisis Management team) when required on a reactive basis - more recently for Covid-19.
-  Mandatory induction briefings and annual training for relevant colleagues on key regulations.
-  Oversight from committees and steering groups such as for fire, health and safety or food safety.
-  In-house regulatory legal team, including specialist solicitors, which conducts 'horizon scanning' on new and emerging regulatory and legislative changes.
-  Dedicated non-legal regulatory issue leaders and advisers to drive compliance against key risk areas within the business. This includes, for example, GSCOP (Groceries Supply Code of Practice) compliance in Food or ethical sourcing in Clothing & Home.
-  Proactive engagement with regulators, legislators, trade bodies and policy makers.
-  Simplified Plan A operating model with a lean central team responsible for setting the framework and establishing sustainability priorities in each of our family of businesses.
-  Published, monitored and reported commitments in relation to environmental and social issues in line with regulatory requirements.
-  Established auditing and monitoring systems.
-  Customer contact centre insight and analysis of live social media issues.




BUSINESS CONTINUITY & RESILIENCE
Failures or resilience issues at key business locations could result in major business interruption. In particular, a major incident at our Castle Donington e-commerce distribution centre may have a significant impact on our ability to fulfil online orders. More broadly, an inability to effectively respond to global events, such as pandemic or supply chain disruption, would significantly impact business performance.
As our sole online Clothing & Home fulfilment centre, the effective operation of our Castle Donington depot is vital. A major incident leading to a sustained period offline would impact sales and potentially hinder the growth of M&S.com.
In addition to Castle Donington, the loss of other locations such as the dedicated warehouses that store beers, wines & spirits or frozen goods in the UK or support facilities, such as for IT, could impact business operations.
While the response to Covid-19 has highlighted positives in the business's ability to continue operating in extreme circumstances, it has also underlined the risk associated with our global supply chains. The reliance on China and the interdependency of sourcing locations, in addition to the concentration of supply from individual countries such as Bangladesh, highlight the potential impact of globally disruptive events. Beyond supply chain, the implications on trading both in the UK and International are also a risk.
 


-  A dedicated Business Continuity team.
-  An established Group Crisis Management process - which was invoked and has operated throughout the Covid-19 outbreak.
-  Business continuity plans, incorporating remote working requirements, are in place for key activities across our operations, including offices, depots and IT sites. These were invoked and, where needed, refined during lockdown.
-  Group Incident Reporting & Management Procedures in place and used to escalate incidents on site. These also include critical third parties.
-  Store and sourcing office business continuity assessments and visits, where appropriate.
-  Insurance cover to mitigate the impact of remediation and business interruption.
-  Mechanisms to validate the existence of key supplier arrangements.
-  Ongoing contingency planning for Brexit.
-  Enhanced capabilities at Castle Donington to manage technology failure.
-  Engagement with external stakeholders including Retail Business Continuity Association and government-led initiatives.
-  Membership of the National Counter Terrorism Information exchange.




INFORMATION SECURITY
Failure to adequately prevent or respond to a data breach or cyber-attack could adversely impact our reputation, result in significant fines, business disruption, loss of stakeholder confidence, and/or loss of information for our customers, employees or business.
The increasing sophistication and frequency of cyber-attacks in the retail industry, coupled with the Data Protection Act (DPA), highlight the escalating information security risk facing all businesses. Our reliance on a number of third parties hosting critical services and holding M&S and customer data also means the information security risk profile is changeable.
This risk also increases as we develop our digital capabilities. For example our dependency on the availability of, and access to, insightful data across our business and/or with the increasing shift online.
In addition, the risk of a data breach or misuse is impacted by Covid-19 as there is the potential for:
·   An increase in targeted phishing campaigns.
·   New risks linked to working from home and the usage of personal devices.
·   Increased reliance on third parties supporting critical support services.
 


-  Dedicated Information Security function, comprising a multi-disciplinary operation of information security specialists and support services and capabilities, with a 24/7 Security Operation Centre.
-  Continued focus on improving controls, policies, and procedures in line with our environment and threat landscape, including heightened areas of risk due to Covid-19.
-  Maintained focus on scanning our threat environment.
-  Established third-party assurance programme.
-  Focused security assurance, overall operational rigor and security hygiene around significant change activities.
-  Network of Data Protection Compliance Managers in priority business areas to oversee and address compliance.
-  Mandatory information security and data protection training for colleagues, including responsibilities for the use of personal data.
-  Corporate Security team with a focus on improving the physical security environment.
 




TECHNOLOGY CAPABILITY
A failure to improve our technology capabilities, reduce dependency on legacy systems and enhance digital capability could limit our ability to keep pace with customer expectations and competitors, enable business transformation and grow profitably.
The digital world continues to evolve at an unrelenting pace, enabling competitive advantage, influencing consumer behaviours or expectations and increasing demands on IT infrastructure. As demonstrated during the Covid-19 lockdown, our business resilience is increasingly dependent on the reliability and effectiveness of our technology infrastructure and capability.
We are clear on our aim to be Digital First and continue to plan and invest to support this objective.
While a focus on improving the existing IT infrastructure has begun to deliver improvements in capability, flexibility and cost efficiency, further work is required to enable the business to move with pace to meet customer and colleague needs.
We also need to continue to develop the skills and capabilities of our colleagues in order to drive beneficial and effective use of the technological changes that are made.
 


-  Delivery against our technology transformation programme continues and is underpinned with a defined technology operating model, project governance principles and agile methodology.
-  Cross-channel technology investment strategy in place and aligned to the family of businesses, reviewed quarterly to track benefits realisation of core projects.
-  Improvements to our IT infrastructure, increased bandwidth and deployment of a unified communication and collaboration tool, which underpinned the rapid move to remote working during the Covid-19 lockdown.
-  Continued investment in in-store technology and digital capabilities to enhance both customer and colleague experience.
-  Prioritisation of technology initiatives which is fully aligned with our operating and capital expenditure targets.
-  Continued collaboration with our principal technology services partner, TCS, and other strategic partnerships, such as Microsoft, to drive our Digital First ambition.
-  Expansion of the Decoded programme and investment in data analytics expertise to improve digital people skills.
-  Investment in dedicated resource focused on technology risk and assurance maturity and roll-out of a structured IT control methodology.
 




THIRD-PARTY MANAGEMENT
An inability to successfully manage and leverage our strategic third-party relationships, or a critical failure of a key supplier or partner, could impact delivery of our transformation initiatives, our ability to operate effectively and efficiently or, in some circumstances, our brand and reputation.
Our business is dependent on a range of significant third-party relationships that span products and services, franchise operations, joint ventures, investments and our banking and services partners. A critical failure of a key supplier or partner could have a significant impact on operational activities, our transformation and/or customer experience - any of which could negatively impact operating profit.
The scale and impact of Covid-19, both in the UK and internationally, has heightened the possibility of disruption or failure in the important group of third-party companies that form part of the extended operations of our business.
 


-  Inclusion of third-party management risks as part of the Crisis Management team oversight of the Covid-19 response.
-  Clear procurement and supplier management policies in place, including dedicated relationship partners for strategic suppliers.
-  Defined service level agreements and key performance indicators for key contracts.
-  Dedicated procurement and commercial teams.
-  Key supplier business contingency planning including targeted reviews by our Business Continuity team.
-  Structured governance and business monitoring processes for investments, other partnering and franchise agreements.
-  Integrated business planning processes to support franchise and joint venture reviews.
-  Regular review of franchise and joint venture markets and new opportunities.
-  Third-party self-assessment processes to confirm compliance with expected standards and policies.
 




TALENT, CULTURE & CAPABILITY
An inability to maintain efficient processes and complete, accurate people metrics could impact our ability to effectively target our resources and people agenda to focus on attracting, engaging, developing and motivating colleagues and developing skills for the future. This could also impact the pace of operational and cultural transformation across the business.
The need to engage, motivate and connect with our colleagues across a multi-generational, diverse workforce and drive Digital First skills and mindset is key to delivering productivity and supporting the   transformation of our business while driving customer loyalty through a differentiated service proposition.
An inability to maintain the necessary change management capabilities could constrain our transformation objectives. This, combined with the cultural challenge of managing talent, performance and succession could result in increased resource management and development costs.
 


-  Investment in external hires to strengthen capability and address identified skills gaps.
-  Investment in internal talent through structured identification of critical and senior roles.
-  Leadership development programmes to enhance leadership capability and colleague engagement.
-  Improved new starter experience to ensure effective onboarding, engagement and retention of new colleagues.
-  A Business Involvement Group which is actively involved in colleague engagement and representation throughout the business, including at Board meetings.
-  Development of a robust performance management system that will measure achievement against business objectives and behaviours, with a clear link to reward.
-  A total reward review, with benchmarking of all pay and benefit components and transparency on fair pay, including gender, ethnicity, disability and age.
-  Creation of a network of external allies to champion our inclusion and diversity agenda.
-  Change management capability considered a specific leadership skill requiring investment through training, toolkits and methodology.
-  Planned investment in an HR information system.
-  Delivery of a digital-specific apprenticeship programme driving digital literacy and capability building.
 




BRAND, LOYALTY & CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
An inability to evolve our brand appeal, customer experience and Sparks loyalty programme will impact our success in retaining and attracting customers and expanding the business.
Consumer lifestyles and attitudes continue to evolve at pace in an increasingly diversified and competitive retail environment. A failure to anticipate and keep up with customer expectations would impact future trading performance.
In addition, the uncertainty of the duration of Covid-19 and its longer-term impact on consumer behaviour, shopping habits and spending power, is unknown, making our ability to plan and rapidly react more important than ever.
Evolving our Sparks programme in a way that resonates with our customers and helps inform business decisions remains a key objective. Combined with coordinating improvements across customer experience and personalisation through meaningful measures of customer experience, data-driven marketing strategies and embedding Digital First behaviours, these are key enablers to being a customer-centric business.
 


-  Chief Digital & Data Officer in post to head Insights and Loyalty programmes and the recently created Digital & Data team focusing on loyalty, data science, digital product, customer growth and innovation.
-  Brand, marketing and product teams aligned with the operating model to better address the specific needs of our family of businesses.
-  Improved online search functionality, enhanced end-to-end journey across M&S.com and stores for Click & Collect, and greater personalised digital products and marketing.
-  Investment in capability to measure customer experience through introduction of an end-to-end and multichannel net promoter score programme, supported by third-party expertise.
-  Completion of a review of our Sparks loyalty programme to inform next steps.
-  Proactive monitoring of social media to observe and respond to trends in customer experience.
-  Initiatives launched in response to the Covid-19 lockdown to continue making product available safely to customers, for example the range of M&S food boxes, expansion of Mobile Pay Go payment facility, introduction of M&S E-Gift Cards and shifting focus to contactless home delivery.
-  Targeted use of celebrity engagement and high-impact sponsorship of ITV's 'Britain's Got Talent'.
 



 
The risks listed do not comprise all those associated with Marks & Spencer and are not presented in any order of priority. In addition to the risks disclosed, a wide range of lesser impacting risks and uncertainties that Marks & Spencer is exposed to, or could be exposed to in the near future, are actively monitored and managed. These less material risks are kept in view in case their likelihood or impact should show signs of increasing.
 
Further information on the financial risks we face and how they are managed is provided on pages 152 to 162.
 
Directors' Responsibility Statement
 
The 2020 Annual Report contains the following statements regarding responsibility for the financial statements in compliance with DTR 4.1.12. Responsibility is for the full Annual Report and Financial Statements 2020 and not the condensed statements required to be set out in the Annual Financial Report announcement.
 
The directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the Company's website. Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions. Each of the directors, whose names and functions are listed on pages 46 and 47 of the Annual Report, confirm that, to the best of their knowledge:
 
- The Group financial statements, prepared in accordance with the applicable set of accounting standards, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the Company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole. 
- The Management Report includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that they face. 
- The Annual Report, taken as a whole, is fair, balanced and understandable, and provides the necessary information for shareholders to assess the Group's performance, business model and strategy.
 
The Directors of Marks and Spencer Group plc are listed in the Group's 2020 Annual Report, and on the Group's website: corporate.marksandspencer.com/investors.
 
 
 


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