James Moore: Marc Bolland has a chance to earn that £15m now chips are down

He can hunker down and complain about the economy. Or he can go out and compete

It is easy to understand why M&S went after Marc Bolland when it waved goodbye to Sir Stuart Rose. Mr Bolland had turned Wm Morrison into a lean, mean, fighting machine. His shareholders were probably even willing to forgive those awful ads featuring Alan Hansen.

But M&S is a different matter. It is a supertanker to Morrisons' speedboat. In joining M&S Mr Bolland joined the big leagues, swapping scrappy fast-moving outsider for big lumbering beast. Yesterday was a case of reality bites.

Mr Bolland has done some things right. Sprucing up the shops, for example, which is yielding encouraging results. And he's doing well with food (hardly a surprise).

But M&S profits still fell. As has happened so often, stuttering growth is grinding to a halt and the core womenswear business is a major weakness. So M&S has bigger challenges to deal with than giving some dowdy stores a lick of paint. As was amply demonstrated by the mistake that cost it millions of pounds in lost sales when its shops were left without woollens during the cold snap.

This won't be the last time the weather blows a chill wind through Mr Bolland's business plans. The economy is an even bigger issue. But the fact it isn't in great shape is no secret. You'll find more talk of challenge in the trading statements of retailers than you will in the Olympic village.

Mr Bolland has options here. He can hunker down and complain about it. Or he can go out and compete. Slashing his targets and reining in his store expansion programme might look like prudent choices.

But it might also be he has chosen the former. Based on that, is he really worth a first-year package of up to £15m?