Marks & Spencer is looking to open a brand new store at The Point development next to Formby Bypass, creating 60 new jobs.
It is part of a £50 million investment being made by the firm in stores across the North West.
M&S is focusing on its store renewal and rotation programme which aims to place sites at prime locations. At its half-year results, M&S announced that its store rotation programme is picking up pace as new and renewed stores are trading well.
The £50m investment, which is spread across the next three financial years, will see three stores across the North West renewed to the latest format.
Five new stores have been announced for previously untapped locations in Liverpool, Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Lancashire. All new store plans are subject to planning permission.
In Formby, M&S plans to open the doors to a new food hall at The Point development, replacing the existing food hall. The venue will see an upgrade in scale and support 60 local jobs.
A brand new full-line store will open in New Mersey Retail Park in Speke, south Liverpool, pending planning approval. The site will replace the existing food hall and bring a bigger range of M&S products than ever before, from food to clothing, home and beauty.
In Cheshire, the full-line store in Gemini Retail Park in Warrington has been redesigned to cater to a wider range of customer shopping missions.
Will Smith, property director at M&S, said:
“As we reshape for growth, we want to open new stores we can be proud of and that deliver the best possible shopping experience for customers.
“Our pipeline of stores for 2025 demonstrates our continued investment in market-leading stores as we deliver our transformation priorities.
“We have the opportunity in the North west of England to continue investing in market-leading stores, as part of our renewal and rotation strategy, offering great quality products with that touch of M&S magic and the trusted value our customers expect and deserve.
“M&S already has many local supplier partnerships such as Park Cakes in Oldham who make the customer-favourite Colin the Caterpillar cakes, and these new stores will help showcase their products and support jobs throughout the supply chain.”
In January, Stand Up For Southport reported how Plans have been revealed to create a new M&S Foodhall, Lidl supermarket and business park next to Formby Bypass, creating “substantial employment opportunities” for the area.
The ambitious scheme would also include small-scale business starter units; co-working spaces; light industrial facilities; and new research and development hubs.
Local residents could also see a new medical facility, a Costa Coffee drive-through and another drive-through, and a new junction off Formby Bypass.
A planning application by Sefton and Formby Developments Limited has been submitted to Sefton Council for the 31.35-acre site in Formby.
The owners say the site, on land the the north of Formby Industrial Estate and east of the A565 Formby Bypass, is “strategically phased to enable the site’s ultimate purpose of creating substantial employment opportunities”.
The 2,185 sqm Lidl store would be served by a 123 space car park.
The 2,006 sqm M&S Foodhall would offer 178 customer car parking spaces and an additional 11 car parking spaces for staff.
A new junction would be constructed to facilitate access and servicing for the development.
Additionally, it features a 167 sqm Costa drive-thru, as well as a second 295 sqm drive-thru, which will be in outline planning.
The first phase also incorporates a 1,033 sqm community medical facility, addressing local health needs.
In their planning application, on behalf of Sefton and Formby Developments Limited by Mono Architectural Design said: “As a whole, the proposed development will deliver the high-quality business park envisaged by the Local Plan policies, which will perform a strategic role in attracting significant local and inward investment and generating a high level of job outputs within a high-quality environment.
“However, it will be necessary for the development proposals to include a limited number of other uses in order to cross-subsidise / enable the delivery of the proposed employment floorspace.
“In particular, these other uses will cross subsidise the construction of a new signal-controlled junction on Formby Bypass to provide access to the business park, will enable significant site constraints to be overcome and will facilitate the provision of essential infrastructure and utility supplies to support the employment function, without which the business park would not be viable in isolation.
“The business park will remain the dominant use and employment uses will be the primary job generators, with the enabling development being subordinate in scale but, nevertheless, also making a valid contribution towards job outputs.
“Given Sefton & Formby Developments commitment to invest in Formby, the proposed development will, if consented, be constructed at the earliest opportunity, and will provide a quantitative and qualitative improvement in the employment offer in Formby.”
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