M&S announces several stores across the UK will shut this year in bid to save £400m as B&Q and TK Maxx also close shops – is your local branch affected?
- M&S has announced seven of the 67 shops due to be closed in a major change
- Read more: B&Q announces it is shutting down stores alongside TK Maxx
Marks and Spencer has confirmed the locations of more than half a dozen stores that could be closed across the country.
The department store announced last year that it would be closing 67 of its larger shops as it looks to open more of its popular Foodhalls.
Seven ‘lower productivity, full line stores’ have been announced as being up for the chop – but the closures are still undergoing consultation, M&S said.
Shops in East Kilbridge, Castleford, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Wrexham, Middlesbrough and Bolton are set to shut.
It comes in yet another blow to the struggling British high street as giants TK Maxx and B&Q announced store closures last week.
Seven ‘lower productivity, full line stores’ have been announced as being up for the chop – but the closures are still undergoing consultation
The first store to close will be the M&S in East Kilbride Shopping Centre, which will shut permanently from February 25
The first of the stores to shut, in East Kilbride Shopping Centre, will close its doors on February 25, with other closures due later in the spring.
M&S stores to close: Is your local branch shutting?
The seven M&S stores being considered for closure are:
- East Kilbride Shopping Centre – February 25
- Carlton Street, Castleford – end of April
- Meadowbank retail park, Edinburgh – spring
- Newport Road, Cardiff – spring
- Eagles Meadow, Wrexham – autumn
- Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough – April
- Deansgate, Bolton – date to be confirmed
Other branches that will close within weeks include the Newport Road store in Cardiff and the Carlton Street shop in Castleford.
The Eagles Meadow store in Wrexham is pencilled in to shut in the autumn but the retail chain are planning to open a Foodhall in the nearby Plas Coch Retail Park.
The company have not confirmed how many jobs might be lost or whether staff will be moved into the new locations.
M&S said in October that it would be closing 67 shops across the country in an effort to save £300million – including cutting down a £100million energy bill.
M&S chief executive Stuart Machin said the retailer aims to have 180 ‘full-line’ shops selling food, clothing and homeware products by early 2028 – down from 247.
Around 80 per cent of M&S’s energy usage comes from its stores, with the closures helping to save costs by reducing the use of refrigerators and lights. Staffing costs are also understood to have risen by seven per cent.
The plan is set to take place over the next five years, but bosses are aiming for it to be completed in three.
It will result in a 20 per cent reduction in retail space dedicated to clothing and home products, amid significant online growth.
M&S has not detailed which locations or how many jobs will be affected by the plans.
But the move will also see the retailer open 104 more Foodhalls over the same period, with many expected to reopen in the same area or location as sites earmarked for closure.
M&S is eyeing up closure for the store in Deansgate, Bolton, although a date has not yet been confirmed
The Castleford M&S is another stores due to close in the coming weeks as the retail giant shuts a number of full-line outlets
The M&S in Eagles Meadow, which is due to be closed in the autumn. A Foodhall will be opened in the nearby Plas Coch Retail Park
More than one high street brand is shutting its shop at Meadowbank retail park in Edinburgh, as both M&S and TK Maxx close
In January, M&S said it was opening a number of new stores, including full-line shops and Foodhalls.
A spokesman said the retailer had announced £480million in ‘bigger, better stores’ across the UK.
‘Our store rotation and investment programme is about making sure we have the right stores, in the right place, with the right space.
‘Whilst our store rotation programme involves closing some stores, it also means relocating and opening new stores in locations across the country,’ the spokesman explained.
Nine of the 20 new store locations have been revealed so far, with the remaining 11 to be announced in due course
The retailer is set to open 104 more Foodhalls over the same period, with many expected to reopen in the same area as the shops that are closing
M&S chief executive Stuart Machin said the retailer aims to have 180 ‘full-line’ shops selling food, clothing and homeware products by early 2028 (M&S in Middlesbrough)
‘Whilst our store rotation programme involves closing some stores, it also means relocating and opening new stores in locations across the country.’
‘In this coming year alone, we are opening 20 new stores across the UK, including brand new M&S stores in Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Thurrock and Purley, and new M&S Foodhalls in locations such as Stockport, Wrexham, Barnsley and Largs.’
Big changes are coming for the British high street as brands pull out of shops due to rising inflation and energy prices.
B&Q is closing eight of its Covid-inspired Asda mini-stores after an ‘intense review’.
Shops in Sheffield, Dagenham, Roehampton and Edmonton will shut alongside stores in Hartlepool and Great Bridge which were opened in December 2021.
B&Q stores in Asdas will close in Sheffield, Dagenham, Roehampton, Edmonton, Thurmaston, Great Bridge, Lancaster and Hartlepool
The popular DIY chain said closures will begin from March 11 and approximately 57 staff will be offered jobs elsewhere.
TK Maxx – and Homesense, which is owned by the same company – are also closing shops
Edinburgh’s Meadowbank TK Maxx opened its doors to customers for the final time on February 15 after the landlord pulls the lease while Homesense will see shops in Manchester and Swansea close.
High street pharmacist Boots has plans to close three stores in the UK, although the chain has said no other closures are planned.
A shop in Salford shopping centre will close on February 25, followed by closures in Malvern and Ellesmere on March 11.
Meanwhile, 11 of the nearly 40 Wetherspoon pubs that are up for sale have been sold.
Some historic buildings and popular pubs will continue to serve pints to the public, having been snapped up.
Pubs in Orpington, Wick and Bodmin, as well as the Running Horse at Doncaster Airport and the Postal Order in Worcester and North and South Wales Bank in Wrexham, have been sold.
Eight London pubs are under offer as the capital proves to be a hot spot for would-be landlords.
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