MARKS Spencer (MS) boss Stuart Rose survived one of the biggest British shareholder rebellions of recent years, as 22 per cent of investors abstained or voted against his election as executive chairman.

Mr Rose, under fire for combining the roles of chairman and chief executive, said he had been described as "the Robert Mugabe of retail" but told 1,400 shareholders at their annual meeting that he took corporate governance "extremely seriously". "MS is an institution that is bigger than any one individual, and that certainly includes me," he said.

Mr Rose pledged to continue expanding Britain's biggest clothing retailer, despite a downturn in consumer spending, and said he would fix its upmarket food business, which triggered a profit warning last week, "in short order".

Mr Rose was received warmly by small shareholders at London's Royal Festival Hall. But outside the meeting, analysts and investors were still questioning Mr Rose's stewardship after a series of bungled management changes and a big fall in MS's shares.

"Shareholders need a plan B or C," analysts at Lehman Brothers said in a research note, arguing that MS's expansion plans could stretch its borrowings.

Mr Rose said he saw no need for big changes. "Your company failed to invest at the turn of the millennium. We must not make the same mistake twice," he told shareholders, adding there was "no current prospect" of a dividend cut.

MS said 77.9 per cent of voting shareholders had backed Mr Rose, with 4.9 per cent voting against and 17.2 per cent abstaining. Newspapers had said up to 30 per cent of shareholders were likely to abstain or vote against Mr Rose's appointment.

Mr Rose was brought in to defend MS in 2004 from a £9.1 billion (€11.5 billion), or 400p-a-share, bid approach from retail billionaire Philip Green.

He revamped stores and introduced new fashions to lure back shoppers and drive a recovery that lifted MS shares to a record high of 759p in April 2007. But his strategy has been called into question by disappointing Christmas sales and last week's profit warning, which sent the stock plunging to a 7½-year low of 210.25p on Tuesday.

Shareholders repeatedly questioned the surprise departure last week of head of food Steven Esom, tipped as a potential successor to Mr Rose, after only about a year in the job following a weaker performance at the food business.

Mr Rose said MS's problems had included self-inflicted injuries on stock availability, pricing promotions and innovation in its food business. But he reiterated that most of them were due to the consumer downturn. - (Reuters)