Marks & Spencer to close a quarter of its large shops

Marks & Spencer will speed up a major shake-up of its estate which will see one in four larger shops close.

M&S is planning to close 25% of its bigger stores selling clothing and homeware in the next five years while opening more than 100 new Simply Food outlets.

In a presentation to investors, the retail giant said it will now seek to speed up this transformation plan with an aim of completing the stores shake-up over three years.

It said the acceleration of its plans was due to a “difficult economic backdrop” and rising costs.

M&S closures in Tayside and Fife

M&S said the plan would not necessarily see it leaving a town.

Instead it could include the closure of an older high street store, and the opening of a new outlet at an out-of-town retail park.

This is what it is planning in Dundee. In June the food and clothing retailer announced it will close its existing shop in Dundee’s Murraygate.

This will be replaced by a new outlet in the former DW sports gym at Gallagher Retail Park next year.

Its current food shop at the retail park will also shut and become part of the new site.

The strategy to close a city centre store and shift to an out of town location was recently seen in Fife.

In 2019, M&S closed its Kirkcaldy town centre shop after 80 years of trading while opening a brand-new foodhall on the outskirts of nearby Glenrothes on the same day.

Future for Perth and Dunfermline M&S shops?

Perth and Dunfermline have large shops in the middle of the city centres.

M&S would not confirm whether these shops could be at risk as part of the transformation programme.

M&S said it had “made some progress to date” on the transformation of its stores portfolio but had further to go.

There will be a 20% reduction in retail space dedicated to clothing and home products, amid significant online growth.

The shake-up is part of a wider overhaul which will see M&S aim to deliver around £400 million in cost savings.

Chief executive officer Stuart Machin said: “We are creating a fit for the future store estate, with shops in great locations that help our customers shop the way they want to.

“We are seeing strong performances from our recently relocated stores and this gives us the confidence to go faster in our rotation plans, whilst at the same time investing in bigger and better Food stores.”