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Marks is learning no business has a divine right to survive
Jonathan Prynn, Consumer Business Editor4 Nov 2009
It's not quite Primark & Spencer yet but the message from Sir Stuart Rose could not be more clear.
M&S has to be seen, in its way, just as good value as its high-street discount rivals or suffer the consequences.
At the start of the recession M&S was slow to catch on to the down-shifting trend among consumers.
On food it was caught flat-footed by Waitrose in particular, which was much smarter in recognising the changing priorities of shoppers.
The launch of Waitrose's Essentials range transformed the image of the "posh" supermarket, which is now enjoying storming growth.
Only this week - six months after the launch of Essentials - has Marks begun running adverts highlighting its own prices against Waitrose's.
In his commentary on today's half-year results, Sir Stuart, who normally cannot be persuaded even to utter the name of one of his rivals, points out how Marks is now cheaper than Waitrose on a basket of 1,200 products.
The days when snooty M&S would not give house room to branded products has gone. The likes of Hula Hoops and Gordon's Gin will now be nestling on the shelves alongside the M&S own-label versions.
In a recessionary era where aggressive discounters such as Primark and Ryanair thrive, ageing pillars of the corporate establishment such as M&S and British Airways have to rethink the way they do business - and fast.
It is difficult to imagine life without an M&S on the high street. But no business has a divine right to survive. Just ask Woolworths.
