MARKS & Spencer has announced the closure of its long-standing store on Aberdeen’s St Nicholas Street as it unveiled plans to invest £30 million to develop its bricks and mortar footprint in Scotland.
The high-street giant said the store will close down after the £15m expansion of its outlet on the city’s Union Square is complete in the spring of 2025, a move it said would make it the fourth biggest M&S in Scotland.
The store on St Nicholas Street has been a major presence in Aberdeen city centre since 1944.
M&S said plans for the relocation had been shared with employees today, stating that all those on permanent contracts will transfer to M&S Aberdeen Union Square or other stores nearby next year. A spokeswoman told The Herald that 155 people work permanently at the St Nicholas Street store, as well as 29 on a contract basis.
Local politicians criticised the decision to axe the shop, which deals a fresh blow to the vibrancy of Aberdeen city centre following the closure of major department stores such as Debenhams, John Lewis, Esslemont & Macintosh, and House of Fraser.
The SNP's Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, posted on X that he is "keen to see a taskforce established to deal with the implications of the decision by Marks & Spencer to close their St Nicholas Street store".
He added: "I am pleased that this afternoon the First Minister stated that he would consider Scottish Government involvement in a taskforce."
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M&S said that it was working with Aberdeen City Council and partners on the future development of the St Nicholas store.
Rachel Rankine, north-east regional manager for M&S, said: “The scale of our investment is a vote of confidence in the future of retail in Aberdeen city centre, with a flagship store on the same scale as city centre stores in Birmingham and Liverpool.
“Where we have already invested in new formats, our customers have responded to the destination shopping experience and Aberdeen shoppers can look forward to having a bigger, better, fresher food hall and the best in M&S clothing and home.”
The high-street giant said its £30m investment will include more than five new store openings and expansions over the next 18 months, supporting more than 6,500 jobs across the country.
It includes what M&S declared will be one of the biggest private sector investment in years in Aberdeen, with £15m earmarked to radically expand its outlet on Union Square. The store will nearly double in size as the retailer introduces a fresh market-style foodhall, complete with flower shop, in-store bakery, and M&S wine shop, as well as bigger clothing, home, and beauty departments.
In addition to a new foodhall opening in Linlithgow later this month, the M&S expansion plans include a new full-line store in Dundee’s Gallagher Retail Park, due to open this summer, and a move into the Ayrshire town of Largs for the first time, with a new foodhall scheduled for early 2025.
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The retailer underlined the importance of Scotland as a strategic sourcing location, noting that it had 2,500 Scottish farms in its supply chain and long-standing partnerships with companies such as Kettle Produce, McSween, and Scottish Sea Farms. Many of its Scottish-sourced product lines as are sold across its store network around the UK and beyond, as well as in its 94 outlets in Scotland.
M&S operations director Sacha Berendji said: “This is our biggest ever investment in Scotland, putting £30m into transforming the shopping experience for customers in Aberdeen, Largs, Dundee, and Linlithgow - bringing new jobs across the country with bigger, better, fresh-market style foodhalls and new opportunities for Scottish shoppers to access our best-ever, most inspiringly presented clothing, home, and beauty ranges.
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“Our investment in Scotland goes beyond new stores with M&S sourcing more Scottish produce than ever before, through strong partnerships with local producers.
“Around 2,500 Scottish farms, sea farms and fisheries supply us with great quality products, many supplied beyond Scotland to M&S stores across the UK.
“Our commitment to Scotland has never been stronger.”
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