Marks & Spencer chairman Archie Norman has said the retailer plans to open “more food spaces this year than any of the big four” as it invests in its store estate.
The big four are commonly known as Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, and Morrisons. Norman said that while new stores will open, the group will be making many closures.
Speaking at the Retail Technology Show, he said: “In truth, a lot of (stores) are not efficient to operate now.”
“The growth of online means that demand for retail space is changing. We are in the process of store rotation, which means we’re closing stores – and it’s tragic and sad to have to do that.
“We have a lot of old stores that are not sustainable. We’ve got to address that. It means we are going to close stores.”
He estimates that of around 226 M&S’s full-line stores, they will end up decreasing the store estate to around 180.
He does, however, think the retailer will open around 18 over the next year or so.
He added: “We’re also investing more money in new stores and new retail space probably (more) than any other retailer in Britain by quite a long way.
“We’ll open more food space this year than any of the big four put together. We’re not retreating at all, we’re advancing.”
Cyber attack: one year on
Speaking about the devastating cyber attack that rocked M&S for months in 2025, Norman said the group is “basically through that now”, but that it was an extremely tough time for the team.
“You go through turnarounds, redundancies, you have to close things down, a hostile takeover, an activist attack, a boardroom scandal, and then you have cyber – but you come out of it stronger,” he said.
He advised retailers to give him a call if a similar event happens to them, and added it’s “unlike anything you’ve practised for.”
“You’ll have dress rehearsals, consultants come in, and game play it, but it’s nothing like that. The moment it happens, you can forget all that.
“Go to the endpoint and assume this is going to go on for a long time. Assume your system is going to be closed down and that the rebuild is going to cost you a lot of money,” he concluded.
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