Marks & Spencer (M&S), the iconic British retailer, is embarking on an ambitious store revamp strategy, with its Fosse Park location in Leicestershire set to receive the “biggest single renewal investment to date.” This move is part of the company’s broader plan to transform its physical retail presence and enhance the shopping experience for customers across the UK. The Fosse Park store expansion will see a staggering £15 million investment, nearly doubling the store’s size and transforming it into a modern flagship large-format store.
The revamped location will feature a spacious cheese barge, a larger in-store bakery, a dedicated M&S Wine Shop, and expanded clothing, home, and beauty departments, all designed to make shopping more inspirational and convenient for customers. This significant investment in Fosse Park is just one facet of M&S’s ambitious £30 million plan to revitalize its Scottish stores.
The retailer is on track to open five new and expanded stores in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Largs, and Linlithgow over the next 18 months, supporting over 6,500 jobs across Scotland. In Aberdeen, M&S will invest £15 million to expand its Union Square store, making it the fourth-largest in the UK once completed in Spring 2025.
The retailer will also open a new full-line store in Dundee’s Gallagher Retail Park and its first-ever food hall in Largs, scheduled to open in early 2025. M&S’s store revamp strategy extends beyond Scotland, reflecting the company’s aim to become the UK’s leading omnichannel retailer. The retailer plans to rotate from its current base of 247 stores to 180 higher-quality, higher-productivity full-line stores selling clothing, home, and food ranges, while also opening over 100 larger and better food sites by FY27/28.
This ambitious investment program, totaling around £500 million, is designed to ensure that M&S has the right stores in the right locations with the right space to meet evolving customer needs and preferences.
The retailer has already seen strong performances from recently opened and relocated stores, with sales exceeding expectations.In addition to its physical store revamp, M&S is also investing in sustainability initiatives, such as a £1 million Plan A Accelerator Fund to support projects that will help the company achieve its net zero goals by 2040. This includes a fiber-to-fiber recycling trial in partnership with Oxfam, exploring shoe recycling, and implementing AI-powered systems to optimize energy consumption in stores. As M&S continues to execute its store rotation program and invest in innovative solutions, the retailer aims to deliver an unbeatable mix of style, quality, and value to customers across its omnichannel platform, driving profitable growth and improving operating margins.
