Sir Stuart Rose: "We must keep talent coming"

Speaking at the Wharf-based Career Academies' annual conference dubbed Glimmers In The Gloom, on Tuesday, M&S's chief executive and executive chairman said: "Obviously there's been a lot of publicity on the fact that there has been a reduction in the number of people able to obtain jobs.

"So it's important, not just at M&S but at other companies, that we step up and continue to make sure we take people in because this recession will come to an end.

"There's evidence to say that this recession has flattened and it may flatten out for another couple of years but there will be an end so we must keep talent coming through."

Earlier this year M&S joined the wave of UK companies looking to reduce headcount, when it announced plans to cut 1,230 jobs.

But Sir Stuart said the company had to maintain access to those leaving education and this year decided not to cut its graduate training scheme.

The 60-year-old will be putting his beliefs into practice later this year in his role as chairman at Business In The Community, which involves a group of companies committed to corporate responsibility.

He will lead a conference involving 100 chief executives and 100 people involved in training and ask what the two groups need from each other.

Sir Stuart said: "It's really important we do that. I've been involved with employing people for 30 odd years and we've really got to worry about the skills coming through and whether they are matching our needs.

"We want to develop their leadership skills, their entrepreneurial skills and that will only happen if we can get together with trainers to produce the right abilities."

Sir Stuart was due to face pressure from M&S shareholders at the company's annual meeting yesterday over his dual role of chairman and chief executive, which is against corporate governance guidelines.

Although a popular leader when he returned in 2004 - he began his management career at M&S in 1972 before leaving to embark on a host of top retail jobs - shareholders have reacted badly to the company's drop in profits over the last year.

Results picked up in this first quarter, but as Sir Stuart insists, business can be a victim of its own success at a company like M&S because of its status as a British institution.

He said: "If I get into a cab outside head office, I can see the driver looking into his rear view mirror thinking 'Is it that bloke?' Before deciding it might be and then they are off.

"That is great for getting customer feedback, the problem is there are 30,000 taxi drivers in London each with a different opinion. That's the beauty, the strength and potentially the weakness of our business.

"We've 21million customers. It's hard to get right. It's like doing the football pools and getting eight score draws.

"We try to do our best but we won't always be successful."