Through a dedicated online hub, M&S customers can now select and book a range of bespoke repair services – from zip replacements to invisible knitwear repairs – all via a simple online form.
M&S said repairs are available from as little as £5 ($6.56) and that M&S clothing can be shipped out, repaired by SOJO’s in-house repair team and returned directly to the customer’s door within seven to 10 days.
This new partnership between M&S and SOJO is supported by the £1m M&S Plan A Accelerator Fund as the retailer commits to investing in driving the circular economy. The Plan A Accelerator Fund aims to take rapid action on climate change through a range of innovation projects.
M&S explained that the company is bringing all of its circular initiatives under one umbrella: Plan A – ‘Another Life’, which includes the new partnership with SOJO, the Beauty Takeback Scheme with Handle and the long-standing clothing donation partnership with Oxfam (formerly ‘Shwopping’). The aim is to provide a more seamless experience for customers who want to support the transition to a more circular economy.
The Plan A – ‘Another Life’ platform will feature a selection of 60-second how-to videos on everything from removing pills from knitwear to adjusting hemlines – created by M&S’s in-house team of technical experts.
Richard Price, Managing Director of Clothing and Home at M&S, said: “At M&S, exceptional quality products are at the heart of everything we do and we want to ensure that all our clothes are too good to throw away. With the launch of our repair service, we are making it even easier for our customers to give their clothes a second life, whether they are using our new repair service or our long-standing clothes recycling programme.”
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Meanwhile, SOJO’s founder and CEO Josephine Philips took to LinkedIn to say that the repair service went live on August 22.
Philips wrote: “Anyone across the UK can book a repair of their M&S clothes, powered by SOJO, and I couldn’t be happier. As one of the UK’s biggest and most heritage brands, it’s a huge step for us at SOJO and for the wider circular fashion industry that they offer a repair service to all their customers.
“Every repair counts when it comes to our mission to extend the life of as many garments as possible – and our tailors couldn’t be better prepared. After years of doing this, it’s incredible to see the repair industry going from strength to strength, and we’re still just at the beginning of this big step to making repairs mainstream.”
In May, M&S’s clothing and home sales rose 5.3% and like-for-like sales rose 5.2% in the 2023/24 financial year, with an industry expert noting that the company’s strategic buying and merchandising offering is attracting a younger audience looking for quality and variety.
