Marks & Spencer considers moving head office outside central London

M&S chief executive Stuart Machin questioned the need for big central London offices at this week’s investor day during a presentation on creating a structurally lower cost base.

Changing working patterns, such as the greater flexibility adopted by many companies during the pandemic, and the opportunity for greater cost efficiencies would justify a move out of central London, he said.

Machin said: “I do think, over the next few years, there’s an opportunity to work quite differently. In Waterside [M&S’ head office], our lease will run out in FY28 and I don’t see us needing a large office like this in central London.

“We’ve got a chance over the next few years to plan for that, to have smaller hubs around the country and to do that in the most cost-efficient way, but also to do it where we can attract the best talent from across the whole of the UK.”

Machin said that in M&S’ store support centres, of which Paddington is one, “we’re really passionate about our flexible working” and there was a chance to remove complexity and hierarchy.

“We want to be faster and quicker,” he said.

M&S’ Waterside House premises cover 11 storeys and 237,800 sq ft. The retailer has been based in Paddington since the early 2000s after moving from its famous Baker Street address in London’s West End.

In the aftermath of the pandemic, central London footfall has not returned to previous levels as many people continue to work at home for part of the week. 

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