Marks & Spencer has announced a £ 13 million investment in the UK’s North East, which includes a multi-million-pound refurbishment of its Newcastle city centre shop and the opening of a fresh new store in Washington Galleries.
The company is planning a ‘top to bottom’ transformation of its Northumberland Street, Newcastle shop, which will include a new, renovated Clothing, Home & Beauty section and a fresh, market-style Foodhall.
This month will see the start of construction on the store, which has been a mainstay of Newcastle Street since 1932. The new Foodhall is anticipated to be finished later this year, but the makeover will go gradually so the store can remain open. The department of Clothing, Home & Beauty will undergo improvements that are scheduled to be finished by early 2024.
The announcement that the business will be opening a larger, brand-new M&S store at the Galleries Retail Park in Washington comes after the other one. The location, which creates the new space by combining three formerly distinct units on the Galleries Retail Park, is already under construction.
With 2,100 employees, M&S operates 21 owned stores in the North East, from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Teesside. In addition, the company operates six M&S stores in travel-related locations such train and petrol stations and hospitals.
With shipments ready in less than 60 seconds, the new stores will include the newest M&S technology, including digital screens and Scan & Shop, to let Click & Collect orders go more quickly and easily.
The investment in the region is part of Marks & Spencer’s wider £ 480 million store optimisation programme which involves the retailer creating ‘bigger and better’ stores across the UK. M&S recently revealed its ambition to accelerate what was initially a five-year store rotation programme and target delivery within three years – by 2025/26.
As part of its programme acceleration, M&S is already expecting to open 20 new bigger, better stores in total this year.
