Marks & Spencer has dismissed a report that it will cut hundreds of jobs at its London head office as “simply inaccurate”.

Marks & Spencer Paddington head office

The lease on M&S’ Paddington headquarters runs out in 2028

The rebuttal follows an article in The Sunday Times that said M&S was looking to drastically reduce headcount at its HQ as part of reforms being driven by chair Archie Norman.

However, M&S said “it is simply inaccurate that hundreds of roles are being cut”, adding: “As previously reported in October, we have said the lease on our London office ends in 2028 and that is a sensible time to think about the amount of space we have in London versus elsewhere.”

In October, chief executive Stuart Machin told investors he was not convinced M&S still needed its Paddington, London, head office.

“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,” he said.

“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.”