M&S names six immediate and eight proposed closures as part of store estate restructuring

Marks & Spencer (M&S) has revealed details of the stores it plans to close as part its restructuring of its store estate, which it first announced at the end of 2016.

Six stores will close by the end of April this year with a further eight slated for closure as the high street giant makes progress towards its aim of repositioning around 25% of its Clothing & Home space through a combination of closures, downsizes, relocations and conversions to food-only stores.

Those stores set to close by the end of April have been named as Birkenhead, Bournemouth, Durham, Fforestfach, Putney and Redditch, with all staff moving to nearby stores.

A further eight stores are proposed for closure: Andover, Basildon, Bridlington, Denton (Outlet), Falmouth, Fareham, Keighley and Stockport. Some 468 staff are affected by the proposals and will now enter a period of consultation with M&S with the retailer saying that relocation to nearby stores will be offered before redundancy is considered.

As expected the business has also confirmed a slow-down in its plans to roll out more Simply Food stores.  It now plans to open a total of 36 owned and franchise stores over the next six months. New locations will include Broadstone, Streatham Hill and St Albans. These stores will sell M&S food and drink and offer Collect in Store for Clothing & Home.

The 36 new stores will create 1,200 management and customer assistant roles, M&S said. It also revealed two stores are due to relocate – Newry, (Northern Ireland), and Dover, (Kent), which will also convert from a Clothing & Food store to a Foodhall.

Sacha Berendji, Director of Retail at Marks & Spencer said: “We’re committed to transforming M&S for our customers, colleagues and shareholders. Stores will always be an integral part of our customer experience, alongside M&S.com, but we have to ensure we have the right offer in the right locations.

“We don’t want any colleagues to leave M&S and we will work with each colleague individually on what is best for them as we endeavour to give everyone a role. However, we accept in some cases we may have to consider redundancy.

“We believe these changes are vital for the future of M&S and we will continue to accelerate the programme, taking tough but necessary decisions, as we focus on making M&S special.”