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Marks & Spencer′s plans to make India biggest overseas market

Marks & Spencer reveals ambitious plan to open 80 stores in India by 2016

Marks & Spencer has pledged to make India its biggest market outside the UK within three years as the 129-year-old retailer attempts to tap into international respect for the brand.

Marc Bolland, chief executive of M&S, said that India is a “priority market” for the company and plans to double the number of M&S stores in the country.

Mr Bolland said M&S wants to have 80 stores in India by 2016, compared to 36 at present, which would be most in any country outside the UK.

India is an attractive market for M&S because of the resonance of the brand in the Commonwealth country.

In its half-year results last week, M&S said that total sales in India were up 28pc on last year and that like-for-like sales had increased by a “double digit percentage”. This was significantly ahead of the 8pc growth reported for the international business as a whole. The retailer only sells general merchandise in India.

The company officially opened its biggest store in India on Monday night in Mumbai. M&S held a glitzy ceremony with Bollywood actors Bipasha Basu and Sonakshi Sinha.

M&S’s biggest international market at present is Turkey, where the retailer has 47 stores. The company also has 39 stores in Russia.

One of the key planks of Mr Bolland’s strategy for M&S is to expand overseas. When he arrived at M&S in 2010 he outlined a three-year plan to convert the high street retailer into a “international multichannel retailer”.

Mr Bolland has opened M&S stores in France and China, as well as expanding franchise arrangements in Turkey.

In Turkey, M&S operates its stores through a joint venture with Reliance that was formed in 2008.

The company plans to open future stores in major Indian cities including Mumbai and Delhi, but also in smaller cities such as Surat.

Mr Bolland said: “India is a priority market for M&S and working closely together with our partner Reliance Retail we have set a clear plan to build a leadership position here.

“As the nation’s leading retailer operator, Reliance Retail is the perfect partner for us in India with extensive local expertise and experience, with strengths in infrastructure, logistics, technology and property.

“This combined with M&S’s brand loyalty and exceptional quality, stylish products, has seen us continue to deliver strong double digit growth in India.

“Now with 36 stores, we have the ideal platform to accelerate our growth in the market and see India become our largest international market outside of the UK by 2016.”