Marks & Spencer sells food, clothing, homeware and beauty products in M&S shops and online, in the UK and abroad.
What you get
M&S shareholders can exchange dividend money for shopping e-vouchers through EQ Boost. The perk is the extra spending power. You give up the cash you exchange. You can also buy other retailers’ vouchers at different rates.
The annual M&S shareholder discount vouchers ended in January 2020. The Payment Plus Shareholder Card closed to new entrants in 2017. EQ Boost is a separate service.
M&S e-vouchers
5% extra value when you spend dividend money on M&S e-vouchers. The minimum spend is £1. Check the rate before buying.
What it takes
The published terms do not state a minimum shareholding.
Qualifying shares: fully paid shares eligible for EQ Boost.
You buy vouchers with dividend money held in an EQ Boost account. Shares alone give you no shopping credit.
Before buyingA perk is a minor benefit of owning a share, not a reason to buy one. Share prices fall as well as rise, and dealing costs, spreads and tax can exceed a perk’s value. Read about the risks.
Holding through a broker
Shares held in your own name qualify.
If your broker or investment app holds your shares for you, you cannot use EQ Boost. The exception is when the company arranges a service to hold shares for you. This is called a company-sponsored nominee (CSN). If you are unsure which you have, ask Equiniti to check your M&S holding.
Other conditions
- Age and residency
- You must be over 18. EQ’s terms appear to limit the service to UK residents; if you live elsewhere, ask Equiniti before you apply.
- Excluded holders
- Corporate shareholders; executors and administrators of deceased holdings
- Joint holdings
- The first-named joint holder applies; the account is in their name.
How to claim
You need your M&S holding in Shareview Portfolio, an email address and your date of birth.
- 1. Change your dividend instructionIn Shareview Portfolio, select EQ Boost for your M&S holding. This replaces your current dividend instruction. Follow the activation email to register.
- 2. Choose your e-vouchersWhen the dividend arrives, sign in to EQ Boost and choose a retailer and an amount. Read the retailer’s voucher terms before you buy.
Dates
The published terms do not say how long you must hold the shares.
- Qualifying date
- You must qualify for the dividend you redirect. M&S’s dividend page gives the record date and election deadline for each payment.
- Claim deadline
- Choose EQ Boost at least 15 working days before a dividend payment, unless another deadline is stated. A late instruction takes effect for a later dividend.
- Expiry
- Each retailer sets its voucher expiry; check before buying.
Practical notes
Your whole dividend goes into the account
You cannot redirect part of it or add your own cash. You can spend some of the balance on vouchers and withdraw the rest to a UK bank account in your name.
Check expiry and protection
Each retailer sets its own voucher expiry and spending rules. If the retailer fails, you could lose the voucher’s value. Money in EQ Boost has no Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection.
Changing your mind
You can cancel the dividend instruction through Shareview. EQ’s terms allow a refund of an unused voucher within 14 days; contact EQ to ask for one.
Sparks needs no shares
Sparks is M&S’s customer loyalty scheme. It is free to join and needs no shares. Its offers are separate from EQ Boost and the old shareholder vouchers.
History of the perk
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Paper vouchers ended
M&S ended the annual shareholder vouchers in January 2020. That month it offered an online discount code to UK-resident registered shareholders who joined Shareview and signed up for electronic communications by 5pm on 24 February 2020.
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Payment Plus closed to new entrants
Payment Plus stopped accepting new participants in 2017. Existing Shareholder Cards remained usable, but M&S issued no new cards.
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Payment Plus introduced shop credit
M&S and Equiniti introduced Payment Plus, allowing shareholders to use some or all of a dividend to buy Shareholder Card credit at a 10% discount. The card worked in M&S’s UK stores and online. At launch, £900 of dividend money bought the maximum £1,000 of credit.
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The annual voucher booklet
M&S set no minimum shareholding for its 2015 vouchers; the qualifying date was 14 November 2014. The January mailing included a 10% voucher valid from 1 to 15 February, a café voucher and Spend and Save vouchers. The other vouchers were valid from 1 February to 31 March 2015. M&S offered no cash or share alternative.
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An extra set of vouchers
M&S promised shareholders an additional set of vouchers with their July 2009 dividend.
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The first shareholder vouchers
M&S sent shareholders Café Revive and Spend and Save vouchers in August 2004 for autumn discounts in its stores.
Company story
Rewarding loyal shareholders
Chairman Paul Myners promised at the 2004 annual meeting to explore how M&S could reward loyal shareholders who were also customers. The Mail on Sunday later reported that the board had relied on those loyal small shareholders to help defeat Sir Philip Green’s takeover attempt that year.
Goodwill and the Shareholder Card
Sir Stuart Rose described the extra vouchers as “a sign of our good faith” after cutting the dividend by 33% in 2009. M&S group secretary Amanda Mellor said Payment Plus rewarded the investment of private shareholders, who were among its most loyal customers. A shareholder told the 2020 AGM that some shop staff seemed never to have seen a Shareholder Card.
Why the paper vouchers ended
M&S blamed rising printing and postage costs, falling voucher use and its move towards digital communication for ending the paper scheme. The Mail on Sunday reported in February 2020 that some investors who held through brokers had never known they could receive the vouchers. M&S told the paper it could not track the vouchers sent to brokers or tell how many reached shareholders or were spent.
A penny stall in Leeds
M&S traces its beginnings to Michael Marks’s stall at Kirkgate Market in Leeds in 1884. Its company history says penny goods became his bestsellers, prompting the slogan “Don’t ask the price, it’s a penny”. The same history records how Tom Spencer, a senior cashier for Isaac Dewhirst, joined Marks in 1894 and matched his £300 investment.
Sources: Marks & Spencer, 2009 shareholder letter ; The Scotsman, 2015 ; The Mail on Sunday, 2020