M&S to open a number of new shops with big £50m UK excessive avenue increase – see full record
Not all news relating to the UK’s already battered high street is bad news, as bosses at Marks and Spencer have confirmed a whopping £50million is about to be invested
High street stalwart Marks and Spencer is spending a whopping £50m on refurbishing some stores and opening several new ones. Despite the challenges facing the high street this year with a tax increase imposed upon employers by Labour’s Chancellor Rachel Reeves, it appears as if some brands are happy to be spending more instead of cutting back.
And top of the list is M&S, which has confirmed that part of the huge spend went towards the Warrington Gemini Retail Park store which reopened on March 27.
A new store will open nearby, which will actually be an outlet version also housing a click-and-collect service.
The New Mersey Retail Park store in Speke, Liverpool, has also had a revamp and will take on 100 new members of staff – the opening date has not yet been made public but it will include a new food hall, as well as a larger clothing area.
A new food hall will open at The Point in Formby, employing a further 60 people, while the Thornton-Cleveleys store in Lancashire will triple the size of the food hall – the nearby site in Blackburn will be moving to Frontier Park as well.
In Greater Manchester, the Middlebrook Retail Park store in Bolton will undergo expansion to allow for a further 108 new roles, while the food hall in nearby Sale is also undergoing a revamp.
No completion dates have been given for all of those listed above, but Will Smith, property director at M&S, said that the expansion is something they can be “proud” of.
He explained: “As we reshape for growth, we want to open new stores we can be proud of and that deliver the best possible shopping experience for customers.
“Our pipeline of stores for 2025 demonstrates our continued investment in market-leading stores as we deliver our transformation priorities.
“We have the opportunity in the north-west of England to continue investing in market-leading stores, as part of our renewal and rotation strategy, offering great quality products with that touch of M&S magic and the trusted value our customers expect and deserve.”
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