Marks and Spencer has announced it will cut around 7,000 jobs from its stores and management teams in the next three months following the impact of Covid-19.

The retailer said the coronavirus pandemic had highlighted a “material shift in trade” for consumers, adding that it “is too early to predict with precision where a new post Covid sales mix will settle” and that it “must act now to reflect this change.”

M&S said it hoped the majority of the cuts will come through voluntary redundancies or early retirements.

The news was announced as part of the company’s most recent trading update, where it revealed M&S Food sales have shown year on year growth, with Group revenue for food up by 2.5% in the 13 weeks to the 8th August 2020.

However, these results were compounded by an overall drop of 13.2% in the same period.

“These proposals are an important step in becoming a leaner, faster business set up to serve changing customer needs and we are committed to supporting colleagues through this time.”

M&S also said it is beginning to benefit from its supply agreement with Ocado, adding over 500 products to its stores as it looks to expand its online delivery offerings.

M&S chief executive, Steve Rowe, said: “In May we outlined our plans to learn from the crisis, accelerate our transformation and deliver a stronger, more agile business in a world in which some customer habits were changed forever.

“Three months on and our Never the Same Again programme is progressing; albeit the outlook is uncertain and we remain cautious. As part of our Never The Same Again programme to embed the positive changes in ways of working through the crisis, we are today announcing proposals to further streamline store operations and management structures.

“These proposals are an important step in becoming a leaner, faster business set up to serve changing customer needs and we are committed to supporting colleagues through this time.”