Subject: D1 Evaluate the impact of changes in the economic environment on a selected business.
I am required to evaluate the impact of changes in the economic environment on marks and spencer’s in relation to government decisions, policies, spending and economic management
Government Decisions
In 2012 the government decided to raise the minimum wage and change the vat rules this had a massive effect on marks and spencer’s as a company. The government raised the minimum wage to £6.18 an hour, This had a bad effect on marks and spencer because all the people at marks and spencer that were on the smaller minimum wage £6.08 (off which It was estimated that nearly half of their work force were on) this lead to an increase on cost that was estimated to be over £60 million pound, this cost would have impacted on marks and Spencer’s because this firstly their cost would have gone up and marks and spencer would have had to make the decision to raise their prices to cover the cost however if they were to raise the prices this would have meant that it would be even harder for customers to afford their food and this would have then meant that these customers may have found another way firstly their cost would have gone up and marks and spencer would have had to make the decision to raise their prices to cover the cost however if they were to raise the prices this would have meant that it would be even harder for customers to afford their food and this would have then meant that these customers may have found another supermarket they may be cheaper to shop at, Marks and spencer could of also absorbed the cost however if they were to do this this would affect their profit margin and their mean that the customer would make a smaller profit and it is likely that they share price will then become smaller due to the week earnings.
This wage rise could have also be seen as a good thing for marks and spencer because it would means that more people would be