Better fashions at Marks & Spencer – but what about the bottom line?

The Rose era is drawing to a close at Marks & Spencer – and today the outgoing chief executive was marking his own report card . The M&S boss, Sir Stuart Rose, said he could look in the mirror and feel proud – better prices and styling, better-looking shops, a website. The sales line – that's fab. Up nearly £2bn since he took over. Shame about the bottom line. But his successor Marc Bolland has a huge in-tray. At a rate of one a day it would take him nearly three months to visit every one of M&S's warehouses – when it should have about four big ones. He has to find a new finance director – possibly one who has run a rights issue, because M&S may need one – and a chairman who can rebuild bridges with disgruntled City investors. He needs to find a reason for M&S food. Sales are better than they have been for years, but they are far from good, especially considering the huge investment there has been in cutting prices. Rose has left some big problems, but he benefited from being a mercurial, media-friendly character with a salesman's ready patter and sharp wit. Bolland will need more than the smooth collegiate approach that helped rebuild Morrisons.