M&S expansion approved for Preston shopping park

Plans for a major expansion of the M&S store on Preston’s Deepdale Shopping Park have been given the green light.

The retailer’s foodhall will more than double in size as part of a revamp that will see Marks and Spencer take over two neighbouring premises at the Blackpool Road site.

The overhaul will involve the firm knocking through to an adjoining unit – currently occupied by New Look – and the next property in the block, which has been vacant since the departure of the Mamas and Papas outlet that traded there until 2019.

It is understood New Look’s lease is due to expire, but the company did not comment when asked by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) whether it planned to relocate elsewhere on the retail park.

In an application to Preston City Council seeking permission for the changes, M&S said its Deepdale store had become “dated and too small for the surrounding catchment [area]”.  It even suggested that the branch could be “brand damaging” because it is now so far removed from the firm’s ideal store.

The physical works to merge the units did not need planning approval, but town hall planners did have to decide whether to lift previous restrictions on the amount of floorspace that could be given over to food – and judge the impact of that increase on other shopping sites in the area.

They acknowledged that the proposal would “divert some trade from Preston City Centre and other [neighbourhood] centres”, but concluded that it “would not have a significant adverse impact on the viability and vitality of any of the centres” in the vicinity.

It was also recognised that there were no other preferable sites for a development of the type being proposed by M&S.

The new foodhall – to be centred on the existing New Look unit and with its own dedicated entrance – will boast 6,600 product lines, spread across almost 1,400 square metres. Within the current store, it occupies 600 square metres – which is just 43 percent of the “optimum” food floorspace aimed for by the retailer.

The expansion will also see an increase in the M&S fashion, beauty and homeware offering at Deepdale.  The mezzanine floors in the New Look and former Mamas and Papas units will be removed, but the one in the existing M&S store will remain.

It is not known when the extension work will begin, but the firm says it hopes to “bring the look and feel” of M&S stores at the likes of the Trafford Centre and Liverpool One to Preston – “albeit on a slightly smaller” scale.

It is expected the expanded store will employ 134 people, compared to the 91 who work at the current Deepdale branch.