M&S Boss Faces Down Rebellion

Marks and Spencer boss Stuart Rose, lauded for reviving the High Street giant a year ago, has had to defend himself against a storm of criticism at the firm's Annual General Meeting.

Sir Stuart, under fire over his dual role as chairman and chief executive, said he had been described as "the Robert Mugabe of retail" but told 1,400 shareholders gathered in London's Royal Festival Hall that he took corporate governance "extremely seriously".

"I fully expect to be held accountable for the actions that I take," he told investors, adding the board had a "strong, independent, challenging" non-executive team.

M&S, Britain's biggest clothing retailer, infuriated some investors in March by saying that Sir Stuart would combine the two top roles at the group as part of a package under which he will stay at the company until 2011.

That dealt with speculation about whether he would stay with the company, but it also went against corporate governance guidelines, which warn against such a concentration of power.

Deputy Chairman David Michels, answering shareholder questions, said the board had avoided a "coward's way out".

"He (Rose) unquestionably has the right set of skills to take Marks and Spencer forward and to complete the job he has started," Mr Michels told investors.

"We are convinced history will show us we made the right decision."

Newspaper reports had said up to 30% of shareholders would abstain or vote against Sir Stuart's appointment as executive chairman.

In the event, the firm admitted that 22% of voting shareholders did not back Sir Stuart.

Source: http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/09072008/140/m-s-boss-faces-rebellion.html