- Retailer has invested £20million in its store estate across the North of England during 2022.
- A further £28.5million investment is already planned for 2023, with two major new stores set to open at Leeds White Rose and Liverpool ONE.
- Announcement comes during the busiest ever week in M&S’s store rotation programme, including the opening of M&S Chesterfield, a brand new Food Hall in Macclesfield and an extension at its Harrogate site.
Today Marks & Spencer (M&S) has set out details of its £48.5million investment in the North of England, with a plan that delivers bigger and better stores for the region. The investment is part of the retailer’s national store rotation programme, which aims to create an M&S store estate fit for the future, with high quality, high productivity space across the UK. Through the programme M&S has created over 200 jobs across northern towns and cities this year, following new store openings and renewal investment in M&S stores.
The announcement comes amidst the busiest ever week in the retailer’s rotation programme, which has seen doors open at a new M&S Foodhall in Macclesfield, a 6,500 sq ft extension at its Harrogate Oatlands store and a new store in Chesterfield’s Ravenside Retail Park – the first M&S full line store opening in Northern England since April 2020.
Sacha Berendji, Retail Operations Director: “Whilst other retailers go online, or sadly disappear, we are committed to having great shops. That means having the right store, in the right place, with the right space to serve our customers the way they want to shop today. This week sees our rotation strategy put into action across this region, where we have secured some outstanding sites - including today’s Chesterfield opening and a strong pipeline coming in Leeds and Liverpool next year.
M&S roots are firmly based in Leeds and this investment cements our future in the region. We want our customers across the North of England to experience the best of M&S and these new and upgraded stores will bring together our digital and physical services to deliver a fantastic shopping experience.”
Councillor Tricia Gilby, Leader of Chesterfield Borough Council, said: “The opening of this new Marks and Spencer store in Chesterfield represents a significant investment in our borough, creating more than 100 new jobs and demonstrates the confidence that this leading national retailer has in Chesterfield’s future.
“It complements our wider and ambitious town centre regeneration plans which are moving forward after we secured nearly £20m from the Government’s levelling up fund, together with a £2 billion growth and investment programme across our whole borough to ensure Chesterfield’s local economy continues to thrive for generations to come.”
At its recent investor day M&S re-affirmed its target to move to 180 high quality larger stores that sell its full Clothing, Home & Food offer – such as the one Chesterfield, whilst at the same time opening over 100 new bigger, better food sites to create a network of 450 owned Simply Foods. As part of the presentation, the retailer shared its ambition to accelerate delivery of the programme to just three years, ahead of its 2028 target. M&S has already identified two new larger sites at Liverpool One and Leeds White Rose which are set to open in 2023, the latter being a former Debenhams site.
M&S has seen strong performances from its recently relocated stores, with payback on net capital investment within two years, giving the retailer the confidence to go faster in its national rotation plan. However, it has been clear that investment in its store estate will require M&S to unlock development value that exists in some of its older sites across the UK, such as its Marble Arch site.
Store rotation in action: The bigger, better M&S Chesterfield store, opened today, is designed with customers and local families at heart - with a fresh, market-style Foodhall, a spacious Clothing, Home and Beauty Department, and over 400 car parking spaces - all helping to make shopping convenient and inspirational. It features quicker ways to pay like the retailer’s Scan & Shop technology - available via the M&S app - and new digital Click & Collect stations to make picking up online orders is easier than ever. At 46,000 sqft the new store marks a big investment for M&S in Chesterfield, with over 100 new recruits joining the current team to welcome customers through its doors.
Ocado Zoom: In addition to M&S’s rotation plan, last week the retailer’s joint venture, Ocado Retail, opened its first Zoom by Ocado site outside of London, in Hunslet – bringing rapid grocery delivery of M&S Food and Ocado’s wider range to customers in Leeds. The facility is its fourth Zoom site, servicing a predicted 10,000 orders per week from Leeds residents and has led to the creation of 130 jobs.
The list below reflects the £20million investment during 2022 across the region.
New full line store
- Chesterfield (30th Nov)
Brand new Foodhall stores include:
- Macclesfield (30th Nov)
- Harrogate Oatlands (29th Nov) – extension
Renewals:
- Leeds Moortown SF (8th Nov)
- Gosforth SF (27th Oct)
- Silverlink (7th Oct)
- Ecclesall Road (7th Oct)
- Lincoln (28th April)
- Bury the Rock (16th April)
In addition, the planned 2023 openings reflect a £28.5million investment.
- Leeds White Rose (expected Summer 2023)
- Liverpool (expected Summer 2023)
-ENDS-
For further information, please contact:
M&S Corporate Press Office: +44 (0)20 8718 1919
2022 Store estate