Background
Simon Marks was born in Manchester, son of Michael Marks, whose market stall in Leeds developed into a scries of penny bazaars and then into the multiple-store chain of M & S
Simon Marks was born in Manchester, son of Michael Marks, whose market stall in Leeds developed into a scries of penny bazaars and then into the multiple-store chain of M & S
He was educated at Manchester Grammar School, where he was in the same class as his lifelong friend and business partner, Israel Sieff.
In 1911 he was appointed to the board of directors of M & S and made responsible for buying. After his father’s death he was given increased responsibilities and in 1916 became chairman of the company, a position he held for forty-eight years. In May 1917 he was called up for military service and was posted as a gunner to the Lancashire city of Preston. After being posted back to London he was able to resume his duties as chairman. From then on he directed the company, which succeeded in combining high quality with mass-market sales in its 250 stores throughout Britain and a number of other countries.
In 1924 Marks visited America, where he studied modern methods of administration and sales. He realized the need to reeducate and retrain his staff and returned to England determined to transform M & S into a chain of “superstores" on the American model. He introduced the five-shilling price limit and set out to find new sources of supply to enable him to create a range of merchandise that could be sold within this limit. He also overcame opposition to developing contact with the manufacturers so that they would supply his stores directly.
Chaim Weizmann introduced Marks and Sieff to the revolutionary opportunities made possible for industry by scientific discoveries being made at the time, for example, the ability to create synthetic fibers. The directors of M & S began to exploit this field, and employed scientists and technologists who became fully integrated into the commercial organization of the business.
An extremely patriotic Briton, Marks was proud of the fact that 99 percent of his company’s merchandise was made in Britain.