M&S announces it will open 20 new stores with five opening in former Debenhams department stores

Marks & Spencer has announced plans to open 20 new shops, with five opening in former Debenhams department stores across the UK in a move that will create 3,400 jobs.

Details of the store openings show that five of the group’s relocated new full-line outlets will be based in former Debenhams sites as part of its pledge to regenerate vacant store outlets.

These will be found in Leeds White Rose, Liverpool ONE, Birmingham’s Bullring, Lakeside Thurrock and the Trafford Centre.

Eight full-line stores will open in well-known shopping centres, as well as in retail parks and high streets across key cities over the next financial year.

M&S will also open 12 new food halls, including in Stockport, Barnsley and Largs in North Ayrshire, Scotland.

The new openings, planned for 2023-24, will bring investment in new stores to £480million, M&S said.

The new store pipeline for 2023/24 includes eight full-line stores in city locations including a new 97k sq ft store in Leeds White Rose and a 70k sq ft store in Liverpool One, both due to open in Summer 2023. 

Later in the year, other major stores will open, including a 65k sq ft store in Birmingham Bullring (Autumn 2023), a 96k sq ft store in Manchester’s Trafford Centre and a 98k sq ft store in Lakeside Thurrock, both set to open in Winter 2023.

All five of these stores will be relocated to former Debenhams sites – part of M&S’s investment to regenerate vacant sites. 

Each has been designed with local families in mind, with wider aisles. 

They will have fresh market-style food halls stocking the full M&S food range, spacious clothing, home and beauty departments, brand-new M&S cafes and free car parking. 

Alongside full line sites, M&S has planned investment in 12 new food halls. 

These include a 16k sq ft store in Stockport opening in Summer 2023, a 12k sq ft store in Barnsley (South Yorkshire) opening in Autumn 2023, and a 9,000 sq ft store in Largs (a seaside town in North Ayrshire, about 33 miles from Glasgow) opening in Winter 2023.

Nine of the 20 new store locations have been revealed so far, with another 11 to be announced in due course, M&S says. 

M&S’s latest plans come under a wider restructure of its retail footprint, with the group last year revealing it would reduce the number of its full-line stores by 67 to 180 over the following five financial years.

Chief executive Stuart Machin said: ‘Stores are a core part of M&S’s omni-channel future and serve as a competitive advantage for how customers want to shop today.

‘Our store rotation programme is about making sure we have the right stores in the right place with the right space – and we’re aiming to rotate from the 247 stores we have today to 180 higher-quality, higher-productivity full-line stores that sell our full clothing, home and food offer whilst also opening over 100 bigger, better food sites.

‘The out-performance of our recently relocated and renewed stores give us the confidence to go faster in our plan.’