Broadcaster and journalist Jeremy Clarkson has emerged as an unlikely champion for independent retailers. In his most recent column for The Sunday Times News Review (November 11), provocatively entitled ‘I welcome trouble at till for M&S and I pray it finally gives small shops a spark of hope’, he reveals where his retail loyalties lie.
Jabbing an accusatory finger at Marks & Spencer, he dubs the store “Middle England with cash tills”, highlighting that although the retailer’s half year profits have risen by 2%, like-for-like sales of homewares, clothing and food have fallen, with the company’s share price taking a significant tumble.
Highlighting the company’s plan to lower the cost of food, he was quick to point out the downside, notably, that quality will be compromised. “Then, pretty soon, the town’s magistrates are going to think: ‘this prawn sandwich doesn’t taste of anything.’ And that will be that for one of Britain’s best known and most respected businesses,” he writes.
Taking a typically controversial stance, Jeremy continues: “I can’t wait for that to happen. I can’t wait for all the supermarkets and chain stores to be wiped out by online competition, because then the little shops will come back selling expensive things in small brown paper bags. And this will be great news for people like me who think value is more important than cost. At the moment, a small shop selling good quality products cannot survive. Due to idiotic parking restrictions . . . and traffic wardens . . .no one can stop off at the butcher or greengrocer on the way home, because that would mean two parking tickets.”
Top: Beleaguered Marks & Spencer recently came under fire from Jeremy Clarkson in his column for the Sunday Times.
