Marks & Spencer to invest £12.5 million in London store estate
Marks & Spencer is to invest £12.5 million in its London store estate in the coming year.
This will result in the creation of 200 jobs and means the retailer will double the amount of new square footage it introduces compared to last year.
As part of the plans, M&S will be opening a new store in Croydon’s Purley Way, and later this year, a new foodhall in Earslfield. It will also be undertaking a full refurbishment of its Victoria Cardinal Place store.
Other stores in the pipeline include a foodhall for city commuters at Liverpool Street station and a relaunch of M&S at Waterloo station through franchise partnerships.
M&S has over 100 owned stores within London and said the new investment will enable to reach more customers across the capital to deliver a “bigger, better and fresher” shopping experience.
Stuart Machin, chief executive of M&S, said: “M&S has been innovating in London for over a hundred years. We’re proud that many of our high street ‘firsts’ were born in the capital – from operating a chain of penny bazaars across London in the early 20th century, to opening our first ever Simply Food here in 2001, and trialling our first new-look foodhall design in Clapham in 2019.
“Today, a third of all M&S stores are located in London – whether in train stations, shopping centres, or high streets – and today’s investment shows that we are committed to offering shoppers in our great capital city the best of M&S for the next 100 years and beyond.”
The news builds on the success of the retailer’s renewal programme last year which included the refresh of M&S Foodhalls in Earls Court, Woolwich and Tolworth. M&S said food sales in Woolwich have more than doubled since the store’s refresh. It also invested in a renewal of its full-line store in Kingston, which resulted in food sales rising by 25% and clothing and home sales by 8%.
