M&S to invest £13m into North East stores
Marks & Spencer has announced that it will invest £13m into its North East estate over the coming year.
The retailer’s Newcastle City Centre store will be the first to receive the benefits, undergoing a multimillion pound development to create a new food hall and clothing, home, and beauty department.
A 47,000 sq ft M&S store is also set to open at Washington Galleries Retail Park, near Sunderland, next spring. Work is already underway to combine three previously separate units at the retail park to create the new store. The existing M&S Simply Food in Washington will stay open as normal until the new store is ready.
The announcement is part of the retailer’s wider £480 million investment into ‘bigger, better stores’ across the UK.
M&S recently revealed its ambition to accelerate its five-year store rotation programme to three years, targeting completion by 2025/26. The retailer is already expecting to open 20 new stores this year, including 12 new M&S Foodhalls, and is aiming to renew an additional 12 existing M&S stores with its latest design and technologies.
Last year, M&S invested in its Silverlink Shopping Park and Gosforth stores in Newcastle.