JEREMY Paxman is hoping for the support of Britain's men as he prepares for his toughest interview yet – tackling the boss of Marks & Spencer over the quality of its underpants.
The Newsnight presenter is to meet Sir Stuart Rose, the chief executive, after writing to complain about his experiences. Sir Stuart reportedly offered to bring samples of M&S products to the meeting, but Mr Paxman declined.
The ferocious inter
rogator and University Challenge host has set himself up as the representative of "widespread gusset anxiety" over the quality of M&S socks and pants. The retail giant said complaints about its underwear were at their lowest level in five years, but said it welcomed the presenter's comments.
Mr Paxman said: "Like very large numbers of men in this country, I have always bought my socks and pants at Marks & Sparks.
"I've noticed that something very troubling has happened. There's no other way to put this. Their pants no longer provide adequate support.
"When I've discussed this with friends and acquaintances, it has revealed widespread gusset anxiety.
"The other thing is socks. Even among those of us who clip our toenails very rigorously, they appear to be wearing out much more quickly on the big toe.
"Also, they're no longer ribbed around the top, which means they do not stay up in the way that they used to."
He added: "These are matters of great concern to the men of Britain. I just felt it was time that somebody raised this with the only man who can sort it out, Stuart Rose."
M&S pants are big business. One in four British men buys their undergarments from the firm, it said last night. In total, clothing sold at more than 300 M&S stories pulls in £4 billion in revenue.
The high street retailer is trying to capture the discount market with deals of five pairs of pants for £3, and copies of top brands, including new seamless pants made from material developed for women's lingerie.
A spokeswoman for M&S said: "Jeremy Paxman wrote a very light-hearted letter to Sir Stuart last week and they will be meeting up shortly to discuss pants and other things.
"One in four men wears our pants and we are the largest lingerie and underwear retailer in the UK by a long shot – we sell four times as much as our nearest competitor.
"Customer complaints about our underwear are at their lowest level in five years, but we're happy to hear Mr Paxman's views."
The spokeswoman could not confirm whether boxers or briefs were more popular. Mr Paxman later said: "I don't know how this leaked out, but it wasn't supposed to. Anyway, Stuart Rose took this very good- humouredly and very kindly replied. We are going to discuss pants and elastic, among other things, and I will have an opportunity to ventilate this issue.
"If I don't get any satisfaction from the pants-bearing meeting, we'1ll have to think again."
In 2006, the BBC series Who do you think you are? followed Mr Paxman as he traced his origins to Glasgow's east end, where his great-grandmother and her nine children lived in poverty.
Pants-to-share ratio wide open to market fluctuationPAXO'S problems are by no means confined to gentlemen of the south-east of England. In response to the declining durability of M&S underpants, I switched last year to slightly longer briefs, made of coarser materials.
The colour range – from mellow amber to autumnal glow – did not compensate for the curious front "envelope" design, preventing, so to speak, speedy aperture, which can be a cause for consternation.
However, M&S pants have been most keenly priced – and this may well be the "aperture" to the company's deeper problem.
Debate about the fortunes of M&S has recently focused on Pant-Share-Ratio, known inside M&S as the Stuart Pant Index. It was launched in January 2006, when the company was selling men's underpants at four pairs for £5, the same price as a single M&S share. Thus the original PSR was 4:1, that is, four pairs of pants were worth one share.
The index climbed over the next 18 months as the price of pants fell and the shares rose. This, said Sir Stuart, was due to "deflation for men's boxers, about 45 per cent, quality maintained … and our boxers do not lose 11 per cent in length when washed … which is important for men who do not like tight-fitting pants".
But to fight off the likes of Tesco, M&S then offered "five-packs" at £3, ie 60p a pair, giving an astonishing PSR of 8. This was clearly a margin-shredding peak and a loud "sell" signal to the stock market. M&S shares have duly plunged to take the ratio back to 6.9. You can learn a lot in the M&S underwear department.
