Marks & Spencer to close up to seven stores in shake-up
Marks & Spencers will be closing or relocating up to seven of its stores, despite recently announcing that it would be opening 20 new stores as part of a £480m investment.
The retailer announced the shake-up with a spokesperson for the company stating that the changes ere part of a wider rotation strategy and that M&S would be opening more stores than it closes.
The spokesperson said: “We recently announced that we are investing £480m in bigger, better stores across the UK. Our store rotation and investment programme is about making sure we have the right stores, in the right place, with the right space.
“Whilst our store rotation programme involves closing some stores, it also means relocating and opening new stores in locations across the country.”
The stores which are set to close include sites at Meadowbank Retail Park in Edinburgh, East Kilbride Shopping Centre, and Newport Road in Cardiff. M&S stores in Castleford, Middlesbrough, and Bolton, have been recommended for closure with the processes under consultation, while one store in Wrexham is poised for relocation.
This follows a recent announcement from M&S that the retailer will be providing a pay rise to over 40,000 of its staff, its second pay rise in the space of a year. M&S’s new minimum hourly wage of £10.20 sits above the national minimum and real living wages.