Marks & Spencer is getting ready to welcome customers to a brand new shop within a few days. The retail giant is moving from an existing site in Tottenham Court Road, central London, to a new premises near the London Underground station.
It will open on Tuesday, June 9 and feature a bakery, coffee and sushi counters. The opening follows a new branch in Tooting Broadway and comes as M&S prepares to launch new food outlets in Sydenham and in Elephant and Castle.
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A branch in Richmond, south-west London is also going to be spruced up as well as the High Street stalwart's flagship shop in Oxford Street, according to The Sun. M&S Food outlets have already opened in Farnham, Hatfield, Luton and Oxfordshire.
Managing Director, Alex Freudmann, said M&S Food is investing to grow and this means opening new food stores in London for families, commuters and locals.
The retailer closed a branch in Swansea on Saturday (May 30) amid plans by the company to reshape its estate. Shoppers in the city now face a 15 minute drive to their nearest M&S.
Marks & Spencer revealed a slump in sales and profits earlier this month due to disruption from a major cyber attack last year which halted online clothing sales.
The London-listed firm said late last year that the incident would hit its annual profits by about £136 million.
It said adjusted pre-tax profits fell by 23.8% to £671.4million for the year. The high street giant also told shareholders that revenues dropped by 25% to £13.8billion for the year to March 29, compared with a year earlier.
The hack particularly affected the group’s fashion, home and beauty operations, with online sales suspended, stock flow disrupted and availability restricted by the cyber attack.
Sales in the division fell by 7.7% over the past year as a result, while profits from the category fell by more than half after the markdown and clearance of excess seasonal stock. Meanwhile, the group’s food arm reported 7% sales growth for the year.
News of the central London branch move also comes after Marks & Spencer joined retailers including Next, Primark and ASOS to urge the Government to speed up planned changes to import tax exemptions.
The retailers say the perks give overseas online sellers an unfair advantage in the UK and suggest bringing in a £2.60 charge for each small parcel sent to the country.
High street firms have criticised a loophole allowing retailers based overseas to send small parcels worth less than £135 to the UK without paying import duties.
Retailers signed a letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves calling on the Government close the loophole.
US President Donald Trump took action to scrap exemptions for low-value imports last year, which had previously allowed parcels worth less than £595 (US$800) to enter the United States without paying any tariffs.
The European Union is also changing the rules so parcels worth less than £112 (150 euros) will no longer be duty-free and is proposing to impose a £2.23 (three euro) charge per item.
In the letter, retailers said that since the US changed its rules, there had been an immediate switch in overseas retailer focus on the UK and EU, worsening a "structural disadvantage" for UK retail.
