M&S tells investors to stay away from AGM: Shareholders not welcome

Marks & Spencer is at the center of a row this weekend after telling its shareholders not to attend its annual meeting because it has gone digital.

The retailer’s AGMs were once famous for their lavish hospitality and for the small shareholders who challenged the bosses on topics ranging from the dividend to panties.

But this year, the company has said investors arriving at the site on Tuesday will not be able to speak to board members in person and will not receive any refreshments.

Instead, they are told to join the meeting ‘electronically’ on their phone or laptop – despite attending in person. The move follows a campaign launched this spring by M&S chairman Archie Norman to modernize popular capitalism.

Small shareholder lobby groups who supported his action now say they are “disappointed” and “embarrassed.” They called on the retailer to offer shareholders a ‘hybrid’ meeting where they can participate both physically and digitally.

In a letter to investors, M&S said: ‘Shareholders are advised not to travel to the venue on the day as the meeting will be completely digital.’

Norman’s Share Your Voice campaign advocates ‘digital communication as standard’ and makes it easier for private investors to have a say in how businesses are run.

He won the endorsement of leading small investor lobby groups, including the UK Shareholders’ Association and ShareSoc, as well as the Quoted Companies Alliance.

But these groups are angry at M&S’s crackdown and want companies to hold ‘hybrid’ meetings where investors are still welcome if they wish to attend in person. ShareSoc’s Mark Northway said his organization was “surprised by the language used in communicating with shareholders.” He added that it still supports Share Your Voice’s overall objectives, but said: “The M&S approach of this AGM has embarrassed us.”

He said he is “disappointed” that M&S ​​wants a digital meeting and added that ShareSoc has a “strong preference for hybrid.” Shareholders can, in theory, still attend in person.

However, an M&S spokesman said that ‘it wouldn’t be a very nice experience’ as it will be streamed from a small studio at its Paddington headquarters in central London where it will be hot and stuffy. Lib Dem colleague Lord Lee of Trafford, the patron of ShareSoc, has put a question to the government asking whether ministers are considering requiring companies to hold ‘hybrid’ meetings.

He said: “It is outrageously arrogant to exclude shareholders from physically attending the AGM and say that the board is unwilling to meet with them afterwards.” The UK Shareholders’ Association said its board is “strongly in favor of a hybrid approach and does not support just virtual meetings”.

James Ashton, CEO of the Quoted Companies Alliance, said companies are weighed down by costs and need to make better use of technology to reach more shareholders through cheaper means.

But he added: “Those who see digital-first as a way to dodge tough questions risk exhausting their shareholder base.”

Norman said: “Many older shareholders look at AGMs with a hazy look and fondly recall the days when hundreds of shareholders took the day off to attend town hall meetings.

“But the reality of contemporary life is very different now and many of the physical gatherings are poorly attended. Needing free time during the day, they exclude most working-age people and those living outside London.

“We have proven that with digital access and a digital-friendly approach, we can triple the number of visitors and give access to many who would otherwise be excluded.

“We have dedicated space for any shareholder who chooses to still attend in person and we are not against hybrid AGMs, far from it. M&S has more private shareholder engagement than almost any other company.”

M&S has been holding hybrid meetings since the pandemic. In 2019, the old-style meeting was attended by 561 people, compared to 1,700 shareholders who logged into the digital meeting last year.