Published
December 5, 2024
It’s high fives all round in the M&S boardroom as the UK’s Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on Thursday granted approval for the redevelopment of its store near Marble Arch in London.
It submitted a planning application to redevelop the store (which is next to Selfridges) in March 2021. But initial approval — and support from the local authority and M&S’s Oxford Street retail neighbours — was reversed by the previous government.
M&S CEO, Stuart Machin said: “I am delighted that, after three unnecessary years of delays, obfuscation and political posturing at its worst, under the previous government, our plans for Marble Arch – the only retail-led regeneration proposal on Oxford Street – have finally been approved. We can now get on with the job of helping to rejuvenate the UK’s premier shopping street through a flagship M&S store and office space, which will support 2,000 jobs and act as a global standard-bearer for sustainability.
“We share the government’s ambition to breathe life back into our cities and towns and are pleased to see they are serious about getting Britain building and growing. We will now move as fast as we can.”
He also cited figures showing that as of May, the street’s footfall was 30% down on pre-pandemic levels and that M&S’s alternative option — closing the store — would have been “catastrophic” for the immediate retail environment, in the words of property specialist Savills.
M&S said the new building that will replace the existing store will will be among “the top 1% of new buildings in London on sustainable performance; [and] it will use less than a quarter of the energy of today’s structure, with 95% of the existing building materials recovered, recycled or reused and the water consumption halved”.
It has “a design life of 120 years and carbon payback within 11 years of construction”, while since the initial proposal, “we have committed to reduce the whole life carbon of the development by a further 10%”.
Conservation groups had pushed to retain and remodel the existing store, which dates from the Art Deco era, on grounds of heritage preservation as well as sustainability.
The Marble Arch store doesn’t have listed status, despite two previous listing applications to English Heritage. And M&S said a “whole life carbon assessment (WLCA), undertaken by leading environmental consultants Arup, concluded that our new-build offered significant sustainability advantages over a refurbishment. Reduction in building regulated operational energy well exceeds the government’s stated 78% carbon reduction target by 2035”.
It added that its team tested 16 different plans to retrofit a flagship store, “all of which are untenable due to the complexity of the site which is made up of three different buildings – of different heights, sizes and age”. And it cited its retrofit of other stores in Chelmsford, Cheltenham, and Brixton to show that it’s not against the concept in principle.
Dee Corsi, Chief Executive, New West End Company said: “Today’s decision by the government sends a strong and positive signal for businesses across the UK, particularly in flagship high street locations which are key drivers of economic growth. The redevelopment of Marks & Spencer’s flagship store at Marble Arch will help cement the West End’s status as a global destination for shoppers and office workers alike, revitalising Oxford Street West and reinforcing the message to international investors that the UK is firmly open for business.”
Copyright © 2024 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.