The struggling upmarket chain has already announced that it will close over 100 stores by 2022 as part of a radical restructuring plan first announced in 2016. Here's all you need to know about the closures…
Which M&S stores are going to close?
On November 7, Marks & Spencer revealed food sales were down 2.9 per cent and clothing and home sales fell by 1.1 per cent.
Boss Steve Rowe told the BBC that he could not rule out further store closures and that the business was reviewing its shop closure plan.
On May 22, Marks and Spencer revealed the latest 14 stores facing closure.
Three shut at the end of July 2018:
- Bayswater
- Fleetwood Outlet
- Newton Abbot Outlet
Two others will both close by early 2019:
- Clacton
- Holloway Road
Seven other stores are proposed for closure, putting the jobs of nearly 600 employees under threat, although M&S has pledged that these workers will be offered roles elsewhere before redundancy is considered.
- Falkirk
- Kettering
- Newmarket
- New Mersey Speke
- Northampton
- Stockton
- Walsall
In total, 21 Marks and Spencer stores have closed already, including three which were relocated.
The closed stores are:
- Andover
- Basildon
- Birkenhead
- Bournemouth
- Bridlington
- Covent Garden
- Crewe
- Dover
- Durham
- Fareham
- Fforestfach
- Greenock
- Keighley
- Newry
- Portsmouth
- Putney
- Redditch
- Slough
- Stockport
- Warrington
- Wokingham
Overall, it means that 35 M&S shops will shut down by 2019.
By 2020, the retailer will bring this number to 100 stores but it is yet to reveal the locations of the other outlets under threat.
Why are the M&S stores closing?
In November 2016, the high street chain said that it had marked 100 low-performing stores for closure or change.
Sixty stores were set to close in the initial announcement, putting around 2,000 jobs at risk.
In April 2017 the first six stores were announced for closure, and as part of the changes it has downsized a number of stores.
On May 20, The Sunday Times reported that the retailer could shut an additional 40 of its larger outlets that sell both food and clothes – meaning 100 shops would close overall.
The decision to accelerate its programme was reportedly brought about after early results from store closures – like the one in Warrington town centre – led to an increase in sales at newer out-of-town stores.
On November 7, like-for-like sales fell by 2.2 per cent for the six months to the end of September, with food, clothing and home departments all reporting flagging sales.
A spokesperson for M&S told The Sun Online: "We have been clear about our plans to accelerate our store closure and the action we must take to build a business with sustainable, profitable growth.”
The retail giant is said to be focusing on more successful parts of its business such as food and moving away from areas such as clothing and homeware.
There are plans to make one third of the business online in future.
Following the latest announcement of closures, Sacha Berendji, director of retail at Marks & Spencer said axing stores "isn't easy".
"We are making good progress with our plans to reshape our store estate to be more relevant to our customers and support our online growth plans," he said.
"Closing stores isn’t easy but it is vital for the future of M&S.
"Where we have closed stores, we are seeing an encouraging number of customers moving to nearby stores and enjoying shopping with us in a better environment, which is why we’re continuing to transform our estate with pace."
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