MARKS & SPENCER announced it is renegotiating deals with suppliers to try and save £100m a year.

The retailer has held meetings with merchandise and food suppliers.

Stuart Rose, M&S's new chief executive, has pledged to reveal his vision for transforming the trading performance of M&S on July 12, which will also include details of further significant cost savings.

The company has been under pressure since its share of the clothing market fell by 0.2 per cent to 11 per cent last year and like-for-like sales slipped by 0.4 per cent.

The response of investors to the review may determine whether retail tycoon Philip Green succeeds in his efforts to take over M&S.

Mr Green is willing to offer more than £8bn for the group through his bid vehicle Revival Acquisitions, but his approaches have twice been rejected by the M&S board.

M&S works with 15 major suppliers in the UK and a number of smaller companies.

It sources about 90 per cent of its products from overseas.

M&S said: "Following meetings held with key general merchandise and food suppliers, management expects to achieve annual buying improvements of at least £100m during the year ending March 2006 and thereafter."

Retail expert Richard Ratner, of stockbrokers Seymour Pierce, believes M&S will be pushing for a 7.5 per cent price cut that would later rise to ten per cent

He said: "We are not surprised by M&S's move, as we have always said that M&S was overpaying for its non-food merchandise by well over five per cent, and in some cases much more."