M&S To Invest £12.5m In London Stores

• New 38,000 sq ft store in Croydon’s Purley Way
• Retailer invests £12.5million for the year ahead, with a pipeline of new stores set to create over 200 new jobs for Londoners, from zones 1 to 6 and beyond.
• Builds on the £10.3million investment made in London last year 

Today, M&S announced its £12.5million investment in stores across London for the year ahead, creating 200 jobs and doubling the total new square footage achieved across its store estate last year. In FY 22/23, M&S invested £10.3million in the capital, creating 200 jobs, totaling an investment of £23million and 400 jobs over two years. 

This week, M&S will open a brand-new store in Purley Way, and later this year, a new Foodhall in Earslfield as well as undertaking a full renewal of its Victoria Cardinal Place store. With sales for grab-and-go items like salads and sandwiches higher in London than other cities in the UK, M&S will be serving even more city commuters with a new Foodhall in Liverpool Street Station and a relaunch of M&S Waterloo Station through franchise partnerships*. M&S’ food market share in London (4.1%) is higher than other cities in the UK. Whether it’s a full family shop, food-on-the-go, or dinner for tonight, M&S’ variety of store formats in the capital ensures we are set up to serve all our customers in all their shopping missions.

M&S has over 100 owned stores within London– from South Woodford to Sutton, Brent Cross to Bexleyheath, and everywhere in between and today’s investment will enable the retailer to reach even more customers across the capital to deliver a bigger, better and fresher shopping experience.

Stuart Machin, Chief Executive of M&S commented: “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 trialing 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.”

Investing in our store renewal programme

This year’s investment builds on the success of M&S’ renewal programme last year.  M&S Foodhalls in Earls Court, Woolwich and Tolworth were renewed in 2022 to deliver increased product ranges and an elevated shopping experience with excellent results. Food sales at M&S Woolwich have more than doubled since the store’s renewal. M&S also invested in renewing its full-line store in Kingston – resulting in a food sales uplift of 25% and Clothing & Home sales uplift of 8%.

M&S trialed its very first new-look renewal design Foodhall in M&S Clapham Junction back in 2019 and has seen strong performance since. The fresh market-style Foodhall concept was made available first to local London shoppers and has since been rolled out to dozens of new and existing M&S stores across the country. One in five of M&S’ total renewals and new stores in the last year have been opened or completed in London.

Creating hundreds of new jobs for Londoners and supporting the local community

M&S’ new £12.5million investment means the creation of 200 new jobs this year with upcoming store openings in Purley Way and Earslfield. In addition, the retailer employed almost 200 additional store colleagues in 2022 with Foodhall openings in Canary Wharf and Battersea Power Station. M&S was recently awarded Employer of the Year in the Movement to Work Youth Employability Awards for its Marks & Start programme. Run in partnership with The Prince’s Trust, the programme has supported 80 individuals in London this year alone with work experience, with over half of them going on to secure employment with M&S.

This month, M&S stores in London will reach the milestone of 11 million meals donated to more than 450 good causes helping people across every London borough, through our programme with Neighbourly which launched in 2013.Now in its tenth year, the food surplus donation scheme is helping to support local communities and prevent more food waste than ever before, with nearly 4 million meals donated in London over the last year alone – that’s the equivalent of saving over 6,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Reviving Oxford Street with the M&S Marble Arch redevelopment scheme

In recent years, Oxford Street has seen a rapid decline -from the jewel in the crown of UK retail to fake candy stores and empty buildings. M&S’ investment in London includes the proposed redevelopment of Marble Arch – the only retail-led development of Oxford Street. Currently, 17 buildings are listed for demolition across Westminster with four on Oxford Street alone. M&S’ scheme will create thousands of jobs, an improved public realm, and will be a modern, sustainable flag-bearing store, in the top 1% of London’s sustainable buildings that will use only a quarter of the energy of the current building.

More information on how M&S plans to deliver a bold, sustainable and innovative Marble Arch site that is better for colleagues, customers, communities and carbon can be read here.

Jason Perry, Executive Mayor of Croydon, said: “The opening of this new M&S store in Purley Way represents a significant investment in Croydon’s local economy and has created 150 new jobs in the area.

“The new store will enhance the shopping area in Purley Way for the local community and is a welcome addition to the branch in the Whitgift Centre, reinforcing the confidence that this leading national retailer has in the borough."

Source : Marks & Spencer

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