M&S is investing £38m in two new stores in Bristol and Bath | News

M&S is investing £38m in two new full-line flagship stores in Bristol and Bath.

The new £21 million store at Bristol’s Cabot Circus will be 80,000 sq ft and is expected to create up to 150 jobs. The other store, costing £17m, is a relocation to SouthGate in Bath and is set to be 83,000 sq ft.

Both will offer M&S food, beauty and clothing ranges.

The Cabot Circus branch will complement M&S’s existing Bristol stores in Avonmeads, Eastgate, Imperial Park and Whiteladies Road, as well as Cribbs Causeway and Longwell Green.

The SouthGate store will be given the opportunity for staff to relocate from the store it replaces in Stall Street, which is due to trade until the new site opens.

The planned stores were announced today by M&S CEO Stuart Machin in response to a question from shareholders at the retailer’s AGM.

“It’s brilliant to announce our return to Bristol city center today,” said Machin. “At Cabot Circus, we are able to create a flagship store that offers customers the best possible shopping experience and showcases the best of M&S.

“Our store rotation program is about making sure we have the right stores in the right place with the right space to excite and inspire our customers, including in city centres. This £21m investment will enable us to do just that as we expand our footprint across the South West.”

Of the Bath store, he added: “We want to give customers the best shopping experience every time they shop with us. This new £17m investment in a flagship Bath store means we can deliver on that promise and secure the future of M&S in the city.

“So far we’ve seen great results where we’ve relocated stores, in city centers like Liverpool and Birmingham, helping us attract new customers and giving us the confidence to move faster with the strategy.”

Both new stores are among four full-line branches M&S is set to open in its financial year to March 2025, along with nine new restaurants, as it announced in its recent full-year results.