M&S is set to break ground on the long-awaited redevelopment of its Marble Arch flagship next year, Retail Week can reveal.
The high street giant received the green light to demolish the art deco central London store at the end of 2024, following a three-year planning dispute.
The retailer wants to rebuild the store as a nine-storey building inclusive of a retail space, cafe, gym and office.
Retail Week understands that redevelopment works will begin next calendar year and is expected to take four years to complete.
It is unclear whether the entire store will be closed for the full duration of refurbishment works, or if M&S will keep some elements of the store open. It is understood the business is keen to keep disruption to customers at a minimum.
The redevelopment of M&S Marble Arch comes under the retailer’s new strategy to renew its fashion, beauty and home store estate, following a successful run at upgrading its Food shops.
The retailer unveiled the completed revamp of its M&S Pantheon store on London’s Oxford Street on Monday, opening the recently overhauled two upper floors.
M&S chief executive Stuart Machin said: “In 2019, we built the blueprint to modernise our food business with a new food format designed to capture the soul of a fresh market.
“Now we’re taking that same approach into fashion, home and beauty. Pantheon on Oxford Street, where we’ve had a store since 1938, is our first full-line flagship and our R&D store for fashion, home and beauty.
“It’s where we’re testing how we make shopping our ranges easier, more curated and more inspiring, from clearer product moments to how the store looks and feels overall.
M&S, which opened the Marble Arch store in 1930, applied to Westminster City Council for permission to redevelop the site in 2021.
The retailer faced multiple setbacks, involving court cases and opposition from sustainability experts, which saw then housing secretary Michael Gove refuse the application in 2023.
A High Court judge ruled later in the year that the government made a series of flawed decisions while trying to block the plans. Permission was later granted by Angela Rayner at the end of 2024.
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