Why was the decision made to change the post-retirement colleague discount policy to impose a 25-year service qualification up from 10 years?

This was answered live in our broadcast at 1:01:22.

We always aim to be fair and consistent to all. The M&S discount policy is a discretionary benefit and we’re proud that it is one of the most popular benefits we offer, so we wanted to ensure that we continue offering it for years to come.  

To be able to do this, we had to make some changes and simplify the programme as it had become incredibly complicated and harder to track.

We still think it’s a really competitive and industry leading benefit and we absolutely wanted to continue to recognise our long service colleagues which is why we retained leaver discount for those who have 25 years of continuous service and who leave the business for any reason, not just retirement.