Marks & Spencer has said its plan to open 20 new shops across the UK will create 3,400 jobs.
The food and clothing retailer is one of the UK’s most prominent household names – even if it is only a member of the FTSE 250 index of mid-sized businesses. It wants to open eight full-line stores in shopping centres such as the Bullring in Birmingham and the Trafford Centre in Manchester, as well in as retail parks and high streets across key cities.
It also will open 12 new food halls, including in Stockport, Barnsley and the seaside town of Largs in North Ayrshire, Scotland.
M&S 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 outperformance of our recently relocated and renewed stores give us the confidence to go faster in our plan.”
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