Marks & Spencer has announced the latest round of store closures as part of its ongoing turnaround strategy, with the stores affected putting 1000 jobs at risk.
The department store and food retailer’s turnaround includes a target of shutting down more than 100 shops by 2022. Of these, 30 have already closed and today it announced another 17 earmarked for closure.
The affected M&S stores are located in Ashford, Barrow, Bedford, Boston, Buxton, Cwmbran, Deal, Felixstowe, Huddersfield, Hull, Junction One Antrim Outlet, Luton Arndale, Newark, Northwich, Rotherham, Sutton Coldfield and Weston Super Mare.
The closures will lead to job losses, with 1045 staff at risk.
“the biggest turnaround in UK retail”
The affected M&S stores are located in Ashford, Barrow, Bedford, Boston, Buxton, Cwmbran, Deal, Felixstowe, Huddersfield, Hull, Junction One Antrim Outlet, Luton Arndale, Newark, Northwich, Rotherham, Sutton Coldfield and Weston Super Mare.
The closures will lead to job losses, with 1045 staff at risk.
“We’re continuing to transform M&S with pace and as part of this we are making good progress with our plans to close over 100 stores – radically reshaping our store estate to become more relevant for our customers,” M&S property director Sacha Berndji said.
“Proposing to close stores is never easy, for our colleagues, customers or the local community, but it is vital for the future of M&S.
“Where we have closed stores, we are continuing to see an encouraging number of customers choosing other nearby locations and shopping on M&S.com.”
The bellwether retailer’s turnaround scheme, which was first launched in 2016, aims to reshape the business and reduce costs by £350 million.
The news comes less than a week after M&S recorded another quarter of declining sales, although it insisted its performance was “steady” and there were “encouraging early signs” as a result of its turnaround scheme.
Overall like-for-like sales at the retail bellwether dropped by 2.2 per cent, which was mainly dragged by a 2.4 per cent drop in like-for-likes from its clothing and home division.
The retailer attributed the results to the increasing pace of closures that came with the ongoing restructure.
