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M&S has announced the next tranche of UK stores proposed for closure or set to close as it reshapes its UK store estate with plans to take at least a third of sales online.
The retailer will close over 100 stores in total by 2022, including 21 that have already closed and the 14 stores that are announced today as proposed for closure or set to close. Alongside relocations, conversions, downsizes and the introduction of concessions, these closures will aim to reshape M&S’s Clothing & Home space.
The next 14 stores set to close are:
Bayswater
Fleetwood
Newton Abbot
Clacton
Holloway Road
Darlington
East Kilbride
Falkirk
Kettering
Newmarket
New Mersey
Speke
Northampton
Stockton
Walsall
The closures will affect 626 employees, but the high street stalwart said all employees willbe offered redeployment before a redundancy.
Sacha Berendji, retail, operations and property director at M&S, said: “We are making good progress with our plans to reshape our store estate to be more relevant to our customers and support our online growth plans.
“Closing stores isn’t easy but it is vital for the future of M&S. Where we have closed stores, we are seeing an encouraging number of customers moving to nearby stores and enjoying shopping with us in a better environment, which is why we’re continuing to transform our estate with pace.”
M&S says its “radical” plans are part of a five year transformation that will see fewer but better stores.
