Marks & Spencer unveils £90 million investment in London food halls

M&S has revealed it is investing more than £90 million in seventeen London stores.

The programme will include six planned new food halls at Clapham, Covent Garden, Fulham Broadway, Putney, New Malden and Leytonstone, although they are all subject to planning permission.

A further eleven existing London stores are being renewed with a new look including a full refresh of the Pantheon store at the east end of Oxford Street.

They include the food halls at Brooklands, Islington, Brent Cross, Whetstone, Wimbledon, Chiswick, and Clapham South.

The new Clapham South food hall opened this week with a new produce section, doubled in size ambient and freezer sections and a larger bakery offering coffee to go.

In addition three train station stores have been given a fresh look at Euston, St Pancras and Charing Cross.

Work will start on the Pantheon food hall in the basement on 22 April with only a reduced temporary food offer in store while it takes place.

Once complete, the food hall will have a pizza counter, hot chicken, and a coffee shop. It is expected to open in late summer

The investment pipeline is set to create 450 new jobs and will add more than 70,000 sq ft to the retailer’s London store space.

M&S spent £30 million on its London stores last year.

The retailer has more than 100 stores across the capital. Its first London outlet opened in Brixton in 1903.

M&S’s 4.5% food market share in London is higher than other cities in the UK.

Sacha Berendji, operations director at M&S said: “London has always been a special place for M&S, growing from penny bazaars in the early 20th century into fresh Foodhalls like the one in Brixton we reopened last year.

“We serve thousands of customers in the capital across our full line offering in larger stores on Oxford Street, which are soon to be redeveloped, to food on the move in train stations and we are always looking at what we can do next.

“Our pipeline of stores demonstrates our continued investment in London, and we will continue to bring the very best of M&S to customers from Brixton to Barnet for years to come.”