Contents of the in-trays assigned to Katie Bickerstaffe and Stuart Machin, who are set to take up the co-chief executive roles at Marks & Spencer in May, should be predictable enough. Arresting the decline in the clothing and home business, overhauling the store estate and limiting the damage likely to be inflicted by inflation on the margin are top of the pile in restoring the company in the eyes of the investors.
Shares are still priced about 60 per cent below where they were when current boss Steve Rowe took over in April 2016, despite a rally last year. Scepticism remains over whether the new management team will be able to surmount those challenges. An enterprise value of just five times forward earnings before interest,