COMMENT: Marks & Spencer needs to keep it simple

Yet another suit now takes over the helm at Marks & Spencer, but will Steve Rowe be able to stop the rot on the rails of the women's clothing department, asks Marion Brennan.

The same old story is revealed year after year, with an upsurge reported in the firm's food sales but a slump in its general merchandise trading, which includes its much-beleaguered women's 'fashion' arm.

The answer is obvious – clear out the effs. That means the frills, the frayed edging, the flowery patterns and all the other flouncy features that anchor M&S firmly in the 1950s.

The idea appears to be supported by the company's clothing sales outside the UK where they are sold at a higher price and marketed as more high-end. The approach, and the hint of British quirkiness, is attracting customers whose image of the the UK is clearly stuck in the post-war world of tweeds and twin-sets.

The clothes need to go back to basics – simplicity should be the aim.

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What we have loved about Marks & Spencer is their classic lines, the simple white shirt, the cashmere sweater, the well-cut skirt and, yes, their world-famous knicker range.

It feels like it started to go wrong when M&S tried to compete with the High Street, packing the rails with 'trendier' styles.

The problem with that is that there is a lot of competition out there these days – from the likes of Reiss, at one end, and Asos at the other – with Zara, Top Shop, Warehouse, River Island, Dotty Perkins, and a hundred more retailers in between and they do 'young' better.

The clothes are also better made than they used to be and well tailored, formerly exclusive M&S territory.

A few years ago the company split its women's wear into different sections, hailed as a progressive move.Among other labels we were given Classic, Limited Edition, Indigo and, for younger fashions, Per Una. But the young look, if it was ever there, has gone, and so have the demarcation lines. All Marks clothes look the same – tired, old-fashioned and frumpy.

Steve Rowe has worked for the company for 25 years and , most recently as head of its general merchandise business. Perhaps that's a good thing. Perhaps he has been chomping at the bit to get his hands on the tiller in order to steer the good ship M&S back to less fashionable, more stylish waters.

But you can't help wondering that maybe the job of bringing the firm's women's clothing out of the doldrums should have been given to, well, a woman.