the company's chief executive has been talking to our business correspondent emma simpson.n now speak to maria malone, principal lecturer in fashion business at manchester metropolitan university. shejoins us from our salford newsroom. thank you very much for being with us. thank you very much for being with us. you have a lots of direct experience in this area of retail. i think most recently at littlewoods shop directs. the challenge of online and developing an identity, what is your sense first of all of where marks & spencer has gone wrong in terms of its offer in clothing?” think there is no clarity on who the customer is. and on the product that is being offered to the customer. i think the competition has come thick and fast and is napping at the heels, and is now overtaking. if you think about childrenswear which marks & spencer was the go to praise the childrenswear, now everybody is going to asda. so, there is competition in doing things better, better prices, compatible product quality, but also really focused on great marketing strategies. why don't they know th

here's emma simpson.early half a century, but likely not for much longer. m&s is making a big retreat from high streets it once ruled. many will miss it here. oh, no! oh, i didn't realise that was closing. i know they said that, you know, there were some that would the closing. i can't believe it's our one. will you miss it? yes, yes. we do shop in there quite a lot. i think we often come in here, grab a lunch or it can give you things that you're looking for with quality. and i think it's something we're lacking. we go there every day. we go to the coffee shop, we buy clothes there. m&s is trying to reverse falling sales and profits. shopping habits have changed, but this retailer has struggled to keep up with them. it doesn't need as much space as it used to. and it's now ramping up the changes. northampton is one of 1a stores earmarked for closure. that's in addition to 21 which have already shut. but now there's another 65 stores to go over the next five years. by the end of this restructuring, one in

here's emma simpson.thampton, and a store that's been here for nearly half a century, but likely not for much longer. m&s is making a big retreat from high streets it once ruled. many will miss it here. oh, no! oh, i didn't realise that was closing. i know they said that, you know, there were some that would be closing. i can't believe it's our one. will you miss it? yes, yes. we do shop in there quite a lot. i think we often come in here, grab a lunch or it can give you things that you're looking for with quality. and i think it's something we're lacking. we go there every day. we go to the coffee shop, we buy clothes there. m&s is trying to reverse falling sales and profits. shopping habits have changed, but this retailer has struggled to keep up with them. it doesn't need as much space as it used to. and it's now ramping up the changes. northampton is one of 1a stores earmarked for closure. that's in addition to 21 which have already shut. but now there's another 65 stores to go over the next five year

emma simpson, bbc news.ome are already there, camping outjust to make sure they get the best view of prince harry and meghan markle. sarah campbell reports from windsor as it gets ready for the big day. all ages have helped to get windsor wedding ready. more than half a mile's worth of bunting has been created by the borough's primary school children, including here at 0akfield first school. we will be watching on a big, big screen. we will see them, like, going down the aisle. yeah, the thing i'm looking forward to seeing is meghan's dress and them saying yes. and the wedding will be shown on the big screen, a high definition version of how a 15—year—old sylvia watched harry's granny, the queen, get married in 1947. we went to a neighbour's and she had a black—and—white television and it's the first television we'd seen. there was great excitement. i rememberthem all coming out on the balcony. that's what i remember the most. and 70 years later, did you think you would be watching the queen's grandson get m

emma simpson, thank you.ttack prince george has admitted a string of terrorism offences. husnain rashid changed his plea during his trial at woolwich crown court, which had been told he used a chat group to urge people to target the prince. our home affairs correspondent dominic casciani is with me. explain exactly what happened in court this morning, dominic. quite a dramatic change in circumstances, jane. this man, tim threw, who is 32 and a teacher at a local mosque in nelson, among other things, for weeks he denied having anything to do with posting messages on a secret social media channel last year in which he encouraged an attack on prince george. it was within weeks of the young prince starting nursery, in effect what he did what he created an image of the prince at nursery and on the background he put the silhouette of effectively masked jihadi fighters saying somebody should go and kill this young royal. for weeks he has held out, suddenly changing his plea this morning and admitting everything, sim

here's emma simpson.t's been here for nearly half a century, but likely not for much longer. m&s is making a big retreat from high streets it once ruled. many will miss it here. oh, no! oh, i didn't realise that was closing. i know they said that, you know, there were some that would the closing. i can't believe it's our one. will you miss it? yes, yes. we do shop in there quite a lot. i think we often come in here, grab a lunch or it can give you things that you're looking for with quality. and i think it's something we're lacking. we go there every day. we go to the coffee shop, we buy clothes there. m&s is trying to reverse falling sales and profits. shopping habits have changed, but this retailer has struggled to keep up with them. it doesn't need as much space as it used to. and it's now ramping up the changes. northampton is one of 14 stores earmarked for closure. that's in addition to 21 which have already shut. but now there's another 65 stores to go over the next five years. by the end of this re

emma simpson, news, doncaster.ions over a possible summit next month between himself and the north korean leader are going well, and that he expected to receive a letter from kim jong—un tomorrow. and, as hopes for a possible trump—kim summit got a boost, the president did meet a kim, of a very different sort. here's nick bryant. the kim summit was splashed across the new york tabloids this morning, although this one involved a kardashian, rather than a korean. two reality tv stars meeting in oval office, the pop culture moment of this presidency. this dinner in manhattan last night may have lacked the star power, but it's far more momentous. a smiling us secretary of state mike pompeo meeting a north korean general, kim yong—chol, a one—time spy master and his leader's right—hand man. that meal was very positive, according to donald trump, who revealed that the north korean delegation is carrying a personal letter from kim jong—un, which he now expects them to deliver to washington tomorrow. it's all a process. we

emma simpson, bbc news, doncaster.nt five star movement and the right—wing league announcing they have reached a new agreement to govern the country. james reynolds is in rome for us. james, has italy finally got its government? yes, it has. remember, four days ago the populists walked out in anger, calling for early elections after the president vetoed their choice of a euro—sceptic finance minister. there then followed a political opera several dozen acts. that is now over. the country knows where it stands. there will be no early election. there will be no unofficial referendum on the euro. the populists decided to back down in order to get into government. they've switched the name of their finance minister, the new minister has not talked about leaving the euro. that's a relief to italy's pro—euro president, who has got what he wanted, and it will also be a relief to brussels but conflicts between the populists who will now be in government and brussels may not be over. this new government is making promises, it w

emma simpson, bbc news.on. the judge at bristol crown court said berlinah wallace's attack on mark van dongen in 2015 was an act of "pure evil". mr van dongen ended his life through euthanasia 16 months later, saying he could no longer stand the pain of his injuries. jon kay reports. six days after she was found guilty, berlinah wallace came to be sentenced. inside court, her actions were described by the judge as pure evil, sadistic, malicious and callous. she had thrown sulphuric acid over her boyfriend as he lay in her bed, wearing just a pair of shorts. these pictures show how it burned the sheets. the acid left mark van dongen with catastrophic, life—threatening injuries. after more than a year of pain he was granted euthanasia in belgium. sentencing her to life in prison with a minimum of 12 years, the judge said the south african born fashion student had told lie upon lie and intended to disfigure the 29—year—old so he would not be attractive to other women. mark van dongen's father attended every day

our business correspondent emma simpson has more. ones for decades, but it's in trouble. trouble. dayslot more choice. choice. it ranges, all different shops, supermarkets, next, primark. shops, supermarkets, next, primark. what about motherca re? what about mothercare? know, too expensive. expensive. it sounds like mothercare has more competition these days. has more competition these days. shop that just did baby things and it was very, very popular. it was very, very popular. looking at what i wanted and i loved it. it. it seems outdated, when i think about it, motherca re. it seems outdated, when i think about it, mothercare. about it, mothercare. mothercare's one of the newest stores. stores. it used to have hundreds decades ago. decades ago. today, and now it wants to close 50 of them by next summer to cut costs. of them by next summer to cut costs. mothercare's problem is it has too many underperforming stores. many underperforming stores. the high street its troubles have finally come to a head. finally come to a head. injection from investors to reboot the business, but will i

another household name that is struggling to make the sums emma simpson, bbc news.he headlines on bbc news. preparations gather pace for the royal wedding at windsor castle — but it's confirmed that meghan markle's father will not be attending. the government says it could still ban combustible cladding, despite a review after the grenfell tower fire suggesting an outright ban isn't needed. a woman is found guilty of throwing acid over herformer partner as he slept, he later died in a euthanasia clinic. an update on the market numbers for you — here's how london's and frankfurt ended the day. and in the the united states this is how the dow and the nasdaq are getting on. you can see the ftse hit a record high today with rising oil prices help lifting uk stocks. now it's time for meet the author. it's probably the most famous love story in the world. two youngsters ina story in the world. two youngsters in a fatal embrace, their whirring families unable to let them live out their dreams. but this is not shakespeare's story. it isjuliet and romeo. the tale retold by t

here's our business correspondent emma simpson. of north london for more than 100 years, but not forer. years, but not for much longer. shop is going along with 13 others, the latest m&s stores to close. the latest m&s stores to closelj think it's terrible. think it's terrible. it's a great shock, why closing? shock, why closing? i'm really shocked, totally gutted. shocked, totally gutted. it's going to change the community completely. to change the community completely. felt like the whole of wood green just shut down as well. it's such a shame. shame. falling sales and rising costs, and more shoppers going online. more shoppers going online. november 2016, the new boss announced an overhaul of its stores. announced an overhaul of its stores. need less space for its clothing and home ranges. home ranges. 60 fewer clothing and home stores by 2022. today, that's been up to 100. it's got too many stores that aren't making a profit. making a profit. needs to look at its door estate and get rid of those unprofitable ones. get rid of those unprofitable ones. here is one of 21 stores that

emma simpson, bbc news, doncaster.ging a terror attack targeting prince george. husnain rashid changed his plea half way through his trial at woolwich crown court. the court heard rashid used a messaging group to call for an attack on prince george. our correspondent caroline davies is here. first of all, can you tell us what he admitted to doing? when the trial started initially husnain rashid pleaded not guilty, the preparation of a cts pleaded not guilty, the preparation of acts of terrorism, giving people the tools to carry these things out and giving them —— encouraging them to do so. he did this on a messaging app called telegram, not entirely dissimilar to whats app, with google can subscribe and see the messages, and he was providing people with information and in one of them he posted a picture of prince george not long after he started school with superimposed images ofjihadi fighters next to him, and he posted the address of the school and a postcode, and he then left a note saying "school start early," with

emma simpson, bbc news, doncaster.ative to typical rent—to—own schemes. how much of this is down that is made by someone who enters into these agreements rather than choice? under pressure a lot of mothers, single mothers especially, in our research, single mothers who were working were the most vulnerable group and they do make bad decisions under pressure, they will tell you that, but when the washing machine is broken and the school uniform is piling up, it is a realistic to get toa piling up, it is a realistic to get to a launderette when you have time p i’essu i’es to a launderette when you have time pressures and other commitments. we found in our research losing time from work was a big stress around people who work part—time, zero—hours contracts, there are so bloody pressures around some of these more vulnerable —— there are so many pressures around some of these more vulnerable households. there is pressure to get these essential items but you don't have the money in your bank account. often it is said people

emma simpson, bbc news. samantha dover, who's a senior retail analyst at market intelligence agency mintel. explain how a company can shut stores and yet lose money, it is costing them to shut those stores. stores and yet lose money, it is costing them to shut those storeslj suppose there are a number of elements coming into that, the redistribution of stock, things like that, where the staff there and go, s03 that, where the staff there and go, soa number of that, where the staff there and go, so a number of elements that will cost them money, the store closures. but it makes sense to do that in the longer term, that is the idea? yeah, definitely, because at the end of the day they have a huge store network, and it makes sense for the business because, you know, they have underinvested in a lot of those stores, so that can erode overall perceptions of the brand. withering on the vine, as it were. they will have fewer but hopefully better stores, and it will free up money to invest better in online. online s

emma simpson, bbc news.ent plan to halve the number of people exposed to high—particle pollution in england by 2025 does not go far enough. ministers wants to curb smoke from wood—burners as well as pollution from diesel machinery. critics say there is a lack of detail and that the government is passing the buck to local authorities. here's our environment analyst roger harrabin. filthy air has become a national crisis with angry parents demanding action. the government has been dragged through the courts over failures to tackle nitrogen dioxide emissions, mainly from vehicles. today's consultation says too little about car pollution for the liking of campaigners. what the strategy fails to do is provide incentives and support to people to move away from just using vehicles. we need cleaner vehicles and fewer vehicles on the road. in fact the government's consultation document today deliberately takes a broad approach to many sorts of pollution. by taking steps both to reduce petrol and diesel cars on our ro

emma simpson, bbc news, doncaster.charity toynbee hall, which works to reduce the poverty gap between people of all social and financial backgrounds. this high cost lending, how, in your experience, will it affect some of the poorest members of society? we run an advice centre where people come in seeking advice on debt. i spoke to an adviser last night and she said she could look up hundreds of cases people who had multiple debts to high cost credit lenders, from catalogues, payday loans and overd rafts charges, and from catalogues, payday loans and overdrafts charges, and those people are suffering with physical and mental stress because of having to pay back, and it also means they cannot meet essential needs like paying for rent, food and essential bills. high cost credit causes stress and exacerbate poverty. how do you think the reforms that have been announced today, do they go far enoughin been announced today, do they go far enough in your opinion? we are excited to see the consultation on a cap on the rent to

here's emma simpson.re that's been here for nearly half a century, but likely not for much longer. many will miss it here. oh, no! i didn't realise that was closing. i know they said... i can't believe it is ourone! know they said... i can't believe it is our one! will you miss it? yes. do shopping there quite a lot. we often come in here and grab a lunch or it can give you things that you're looking forward quality, and i think it's something we're lacking translation: we go there every day, we go to the coffee shop, we buy clothes there. m&s is trying to reverse falling sales and profits. shopping habits have changed but this retailer has struggled to keep up this retailer has struggled to keep up with them. it doesn't need as much space as it used to and it is now ramping up the changes. northampton is one of 111 stores earmarked for closure, in addition to 21 which have already shot. but now there's another 65 stores to go over the next five years. by the end of this restructuring, one in three m&s cl

emma simpson, bbc news. finsbury park in london, three days later. kasim lewis, from north london, pleaded guilty to her murder at the old bailey. the father of two boys, who were killed in a hit and run crash in coventry, has been found dead in a hotel room in corfu. his sons — corey and casper, who were aged six and two — died in february. his death is not being treated as suspicious. the driver of the car that hit them, robert brown, is serving a nine—year prison sentence. president trump has filed a document with regulators in washington acknowledging that he'd reimbursed his personal lawyer more than 100—thousand dollars. the money is alleged to have been used to buy the silence of the adult movie star, stormy daniels; the president denies her claim that they had a sexual encounter in 2006. a permanent national memorial to the british victims of overseas terrorism has been unveiled at the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire. the prince of wales and the duchess of cornwall attended the ceremony

emma simpson is in central london. do we know how many stores could be affected ?age. the company isn't saying. today's news isn't surprising, because house of fraser has been struggling for a very long time. it is under pressure, with falling sales and rising costs. this business has 59 stores across the uk. it has got 6000 employees, and then there are a further 11,500 people who work in all of the concessions in its stores. what happened today was that house of fraser confirmed it wanted a formal deal with its landlords and creditors to close stores and cut costs. what we also learned today was that the owner of hamleys, a chinese company, has agreed to buy a controlling stake from house of fraser, which also has a chinese owner, but this will only happen if a separate restructuring deal is agreed. the general house of fraser didn't mince his words, saying the future of the business depended on it. -- future of the business depended on it. —— the chairman of the house of fraser. we will learn more in a month. thousands of liverpool fans who've travelled to rome

the company's chief executive has been talking to our business correspondent, emma simpson. store closures. this one in northampton one of a hundred that will go at it is an overhaul which is costing the m&s dear. the expense of closing these stores made a huge dent in its annual pre—tax profits today, down by 62% to just under £67 million. sales are also down in clothing, home and food. i spoke to be boss about the challenges and changes taking place. steve, your statement is a pretty sobering read it says the culture is to corporate, you are too inward looking, you have lost your appeal to family aged customers. you seem to be saying that if you don't make urgent changes now, m&s is in danger of slowly fading away. sobering reading it is. i think the statement demonstrates why it is urgent we transform this business and modernise it and make m&s special again. that includes closing lots of stores. in northampton yesterday people were telling me it would be a big blow to lose m&s. how where are you of the impact of these closures on our high streets? i am very aware of it a

chief executive of the fca andrew bailey has been discussing the changes with our correspondent emma simpson he is taking action on rent to own. let me give you one of the examples we've published today. a washing machine that costs £400 if you buy it with cash or buy it immediately, can cost up to £1200 if you buy it using rent to buy. now, that seems to us to be a very hard to justify increase, which affects some of the most vulnerable people in society with low income, who are vulnerable. so you have to tackle the question, why is it the cost of essential goods for instance, is so much higher when these forms of credit are involved? so, what are you proposing to do? how big a crackdown are you looking for rent own? are you looking for rent to own? if you look at the proposals we've put forward, there are two parts to it, i would say. one is about the terms and conditions of sales. for instance, in rent to own, we've said we think that bundling up extended warranties and charging for them at the same time as a sale, when customers probably find it pretty hard to understand what they're pay

our business correspondent emma simpson has more., but it's in trouble. not least because these days shoppers have a lot more choice. they've got really good ranges as well. what about motherca re? no, too expensive. it sounds like mothercare has more competition these days. years ago, because i'm older obviously, mothercare was the first shop that just did baby things and it was very, very popular. ican remembergetting a little book and looking at what i wanted and i loved it. it used to have hundreds decades ago. it's got 137 shops today, and now it wants to close 50 of them by next summer to cut costs. mothercare's problem is it has too many underperforming stores. the uk business hasn't made a profit since 2012 and with tough conditions on the high street its troubles have finally come to a head. parallels is how they described it today. they are confident the rescue plan will keep it out of hot water. will it be enough? business is on a cliff edge at the moment. it's got a very strong brand name that does well internationally bu

chief executive of the fca andrew bailey has been discussing the changes with our correspondent emma simpsonwhy he is taking action on rent to own. let me give you one of the examples we've published today. a washing machine that costs £400 if you buy it with cash or buy it immediately, can cost up to £1200 if you buy it using rent to buy. now, that seems to us to be a very hard to justify increase, which affects some of the most vulnerable people in society with low income, who are vulnerable. so you have to tackle the question, why is it the cost of essential goods for instance, is so much higher when these forms of credit are involved? so, what are you proposing to do? how big a crackdown are you looking for rent own? if you look at the proposals we've put forward, there are two parts to it, i would say. one is about the terms and conditions of sales. for instance, in rent to own, we've said we think that bundling up extended warranties and charging for them at the same time as a sale, when customers probably find it pretty hard to understand what they're paying for at that point, it's so

our business correspondent, emma simpson, says it's not clear precisely how many stores face the axe.ssure with falling sales and rising costs. this business has 59 stores across the uk. it's got 6000 employees and then there are further 11 and a half z: seize! gee! 52:99; hi; giggegz; 5—— — — — — — ———— .. —— stores and cut costs. what we also learned today that the owner of a chinese company the future of the business depended on it, and we'll know more in a months‘ time. well we can speak now tojohn ryan, who's editor of retail week and managing director of new stores. good to see you. with this inevitable? it's been on the card for a little while now. house of fraser have not been doing well. we had the results at christmas and yes, they were down, so were a lot of other people but most of the people were showing positive west their online businesses. and house of fraser were down on that as well. why is that the thing? they lost their way a little bit. i'm not quite sure to be honest what they stand for any more. yes, ' 25, stores, you can go to, department stores, even got to “f