THE chief executive of Swindon Chamber of Trade, Dennis Grant, says Marks & Spencer has suffered as it is out of touch with its customers.

The store has revealed a 19 per cent fall in annual profits. As reported in yesterday's late edition of the Adver, M&S said profits dropped to £618.5m during a turbulent year which saw a complete overhaul of management and a takeover approach from retail tycoon Philip Green.

It blamed the slump on having to slash prices to shift excess stock, and the retailer said £1.3 billion of old products and commitments had now been cleared.

Chief executive Stuart Rose, who was parachuted into the top job at M&S in May last year, said a 3.1 per cent drop in clothing sales was disappointing because more shoppers had visited the stores.

Mr Grant said: "The board would have seen this coming.

"If there's one fault it's that they have lost touch with their customer base.

"Marks & Spencer started its life delivering high quality products at a competitive price. Now it's high quality products and it's expensive expensive for the average market.

"If you walk into M&S it's difficult to know who they are marketing it at."

Mr Rose's turnaround plan has seen more than 650 staff laid off at its head office in London and the sale of financial services arm M&S Money.