M&S to invest £30m in Scottish stores

Marks & Spencer Group is to invest £30m overhauling its Scottish offering, including closing one of its stores in Aberdeen, the retailer said on Thursday.

A total of £15m will be spent doubling the size of the general retailer's branch in Aberdeen’s Union Square, creating a flagship large format shop.

It will then close its store on St Nicholas Street once the expansion is complete, due spring 2025. No permanent jobs are expected to be lost in Aberdeen as a result of the move.

The blue chip retailer will also open a full-line store in Dundee’s Gallagher Retail Park later this year, and will expand into Largs by opening a food hall.

Sacha Berendji, operations director, said: "This is our biggest ever investment in Scotland, putting £30m into transforming the shopping experience for customers in Aberdeen, Largs, Dundee and Linlithgow."

Rachel Rankine, north east regional manager, added: "The scale of our investment is a vote of confidence in the future of retail in Aberdeen city centre, with a flagship store on the same scale as city centre stores in Birmingham and Liverpool."

M&S is overhauling its UK retail estate by reducing its current base of 247 shops to 180 higher quality full-line stores. It also intends to open more than 100 bigger food sites by the end of the 2028 financial year.