Marks & Spencer has begun an investment programme in new and upgraded stores in the North West of England, creating hundreds of jobs. Retail Week can reveal.
Marks & Spencer will invest approximately £50m in the region in the year ahead, bringing 300 new jobs.
The initiative kicked off on Friday with the opening of a renewed full-line branch at Warrington’s Gemini Retail Park. There are plans for a further six new shops in Speke, Formby, Thornton-Cleveleys, Warrington, Blackburn and Bolton, while the New Mersey Retail Park shop will move and change from being a food hall to a full-line shop.
The openings will add 100,000 sq ft to M&S’ space and are part of the retailer’s store renewal and transformation programme.
M&S is targeting 180 “higher quality, higher productivity full-line stores”—which sell the entire clothing, home and food range—as well as adding approximately 100 “bigger, better” food locations by the 2028 financial year.
The renewed Gemini Retail Park branch, for instance, includes a refreshed clothing and home area, a bigger beauty department and a larger Food Hall carrying the whole range.
Marks & Spencer property director Will Smith said: “As we reshape for growth, we want to open new stores we can be proud of and that deliver the best possible shopping experience for customers. Our pipeline for 2025 demonstrates our continued investment in market-leading stores as we deliver our transformation priorities.
“We have the opportunity in the North West of England to continue investing in market-leading stores as part of our renewal and rotation strategy.”
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