M&S threatens to leave Oxford Street

Marks and Spencer has warned it will leave Oxford Street if plans for a huge revamp of its flagship store are refused.

It wants to replace the 100 year old building with a smaller shop, offices and a gym, which it says will be more energy efficient and create hundreds of jobs.

However environmental campaigners and heritage groups want the building to be refurbished.

A two week inquiry is under way.

Russell Harris KC, who is representing M&S, told the inquiry that refurbishing the historic buildings would be “undeliverable and unfundable”. He said there’s “no heritage reason” why the site shouldn’t be knocked down as it isn’t listed and doesn’t sit within Westminster’s conservation areas.

He added: “Any heritage harm will be significantly outweighed by the benefits.” Mr Harris told the hearing the new set-up would create a “new flagship store of high architectural quality” to Oxford Street, which is currently “failing”.

He said M&S would “not be made to trade” in the current building and won’t invest further in the site if its plans are refused, adding “no other retailer” would take over the site.

Matthew Fraser representing SAVE told the hearing the company’s “threat” to leave the site was “not the constructive attitude of a retailer committed to the future of Oxford Street”. He added: “The heritage impacts have been considerably underestimated by M&S and are not outweighed by the public benefits of the scheme.”

He also said building a new store would release around 40,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, which is “the equivalent of driving a typical car 99 million miles, further than the distance to the sun”. He added: “There is no structural or safety reason why they cannot be refurbished.”

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