Marks & Spencer plans to open 20 “bigger and better” stores, while closing 67 underperforming branches.
Stuart Machin, the retailer’s co-chief executive, said he was committed to offering “great shops”, taking new store investment to £480m.
The plans include eight “full-line” stores — offering clothing, homewares and food — in shopping centres such as the Bullring, Birmingham, and the Trafford Centre, Manchester, as well in as retail parks and high streets.
It also will open 12 food halls, including in Stockport, Barnsley and the North Ayrshire seaside town of Largs.
Several full-line stores will be based in former Debenhams sites as part of the retailer’s pledge to regenerate vacant store units.
M&S has more than 1,000 stores in the UK, but recently said it would “create an M&S store estate fit for the future” by relocating or closing underperforming branches. It has about 247 full-line stores but intends to reduce the number to 180 by early 2026, closing 67 “lower-productivity, full-line” stores, while at the same time opening more than 100 new food sites.
