High-street stalwart Marks & Spencer has unveiled an ambitious plan to dramatically increase its footprint across the United Kingdom, targeting the opening of 500 new stores.
A New Era of Convenience Shopping
The retail giant is focusing on a customer-centric model for its new locations. Each store will be designed with wider aisles to accommodate bigger shopping trolleys and, crucially, will feature larger car parks to cater specifically to family shoppers. This move signals a significant investment in out-of-town and accessible retail sites.
According to reports from The Times, the company is actively scouting hundreds of new sites to bolster its grocery division, with the ultimate goal of doubling the size of its food business. Potential locations already under consideration include Falmouth in Cornwall, Scarborough, St Andrews, and Lancaster.
Ambitious Growth Targets and Recovery
This expansion plan arrives as M&S demonstrates a strong recovery from a costly cyber-attack, which cost the firm £324 million in the first half of 2025. The company is fighting back with aggressive growth. Currently operating around 330 stores in Britain, M&S aims to build a future portfolio of 180 mixed stores and 420 food-only shops.
In a statement of intent, the retailer confirmed that eight new food-only stores will open before the end of 2025. Furthermore, the company has committed to a massive refurbishment programme, with more than 50% of its existing shops expected to be modernised by April 2028.
Leadership Confidence in the Market
Alex Freudmann, Managing Director of M&S Food, expressed strong confidence in the strategy, citing the performance of recently opened stores. "The strong performance of our new M&S Food stores gives us the confidence to explore even more locations across the UK, from Elgin to Exmouth," Freudmann said. "With more than 20 stores opening or modernised before the end of the financial year, we are moving faster."
Chief Executive Stuart Machin echoed this optimism during the announcement of half-year results, stating that the food division had "largely recovered and is showing strong sales performance." He emphasised that M&S is "regaining momentum" and has seen "three years of consecutive monthly volume growth" in food, consistently outperforming the market.
Machin's vision is for M&S to become a "full shopping-list retailer." He acknowledged that the company's current grocery market share sits at around 4%, a figure he described as "piddly." However, he views this as an opportunity, stating, "which really just encourages us, because we’ve got more than 50 food stores in the pipeline already approved."
