Marks & Spencer closes physical location, focuses on ecommerce

M&S revealed the locations of 14 stores which are to close, including in Londons Bayswater and Holloway Road, with a total of 872 employees affected.

The UK retailers plans to close 100 stores in the next four years. 

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 isnt 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 were continuing to transform our estate with pace.

The store closures may also be a result of poor sales performance as the announcement was made one day before the retailer is expected to unveil its annual figures.