Marks & Spencer announce Lancashire store closure

The closures will affect its clothing and home stores, which have underperformed for several years.

M&S named 14 stores earmarked for closure on Tuesday, with 21 already having shut.

Bayswater, Fleetwood Outlet and Newton Abbot Outlet will close by the end of July 2018. Clacton and Holloway Road will both close by early 2019. Darlington, East Kilbride, Falkirk, Kettering, Newmarket, New Mersey Speke, Northampton, Stockton and Walsall are proposed for closure and will now enter a period of consultation with all 626 affected employees.

It's not yet known if any other Lancashire stores will be affected.

Lisa Rogers, Head of Region for Lancashire & Cumbria at Marks & Spencer, said, “The decision to close M&S Fleetwood Outlet was a difficult one to make.

“We understand our many loyal customers in the area will be disappointed by this news, but I am pleased that our dedicated colleagues will be relocating to nearby stores including Cleveleys Simply Food and our Blackpool store.”

Sacha Berendji, retail and property director at M&S, said: "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.

"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."