M&S reveals 500 ‘want record’ places for brand spanking new shops because it unveils big growth plans – may one be coming to a city close to YOU?
Marks and Spencer has released a list of 500 ‘wish list’ locations for new stores across Britain as part of major expansion plans.
The move will see M&S double the size of its food business, creating thousands of new jobs.
There are currently 330 stores across the UK, but the retailer is hoping to have 180 mixed stores and 420 dedicated food shops within the coming years.
The ambitious expansion includes 200 potential locations across London.
In the meantime, 20 new or renewed stores are set to open by April, creating 800 new jobs.
One of those is a huge new flagship 83,000 sq ft store in Bath which is set to open its doors for the first time on February 4.
It comes as the business is continuing to recover from a devastating cyber attack which cost the company £324 million.
Marks and Spencer is looking for large sites which could stock its full food range, as it looks to increase the average size of its food stores to 18,000 square feet.
Among the new stores set to open is a huge new flagship store in Bath
Marks and Spencer is eyeing up 500 potential sites for new stores across the country
The company is also keen to open in areas which do not currently have an M&S store and have singled out Hove, Marlborough and Wallingford as target locations.
Every new store will include the new, larger layout, with wider aisles for bigger trolleys and larger car parks for more families.
It is part of a move to tempt more customers away from supermarkets to do their weekly shop in the food hall.
More than half of all M&S stores will be transformed to the new format in the next two years.
Last summer, M&S acquired 12 Homebase stores after the DIY chain plunged into administration.
Those stores will now be reopened as standalone food halls, which are set to be among the largest in the company.
The first of its kind opened in Cannock last December and was triple the size of the previous food store nearby, which closed the day before.
Alex Freudmann, Managing Director, M&S Food said: ‘The strong performance of our new M&S food stores gives us the confidence to explore even more locations across the UK, from Elgin to Exmouth.
‘With more than twenty stores opening or modernised before the end of the financial year, we are moving faster.
‘Our team want new sites where we could open a large M&S Food store as we deliver on our strategy to bring the right stores to the right places and offer the best shopping experience, range and availability for our customers.’
Every new store will include the new, larger layout, with wider aisles for bigger trolleys
Last year the retailer was hit by a cyber-attack, which left shoppers unable to buy online from the company for months.
M&S halted orders on its website in late April, and customers had to wait until June to use the store’s website again.
But it took longer to reinstate M&S’ click-and-collect service, which allows users to order items on the website and pick them up in-store the following day, as it was restored in August.
The ransomware attack is thought to have ended with the theft of many customers’ details, which could have included names, email addresses, postal addresses and dates of birth.
It also resulted in empty shelves after the firm dismantled its inventory management systems to mitigate against further damage by hackers.
M&S revealed in May that the hack was caused by ‘human error’, with it ultimately costing the retailer £324million.
