Marks & Spencer has announced the closure of 11 cafes in its smaller food shops as part of its ongoing restructuring of store locations. This move is aimed at creating more space for popular products without any reduction in jobs, as affected staff will be reassigned within the stores. The cafes being shut down represent less than 4% of the company’s total 316 food shops.
According to an M&S spokesperson, the decision to close the cafes is aligned with the company’s strategy to modernize its food business and expand the range of M&S Food offerings to a wider customer base. As part of this initiative, new coffee shops will be introduced, featuring a selection of food items and fairtrade coffee prepared by skilled baristas, including at the recently opened Bristol Cabot Circus store.
The restructuring efforts also include repurposing cafe spaces in 11 small food stores out of the 300+ M&S cafes, coffee shops, and coffee-to-go locations. This forms part of a broader £300 million investment and store rotation program that aims to enhance the presence of M&S food halls. The company has been converting full-line stores into food-focused outlets and upgrading existing food-only stores to better serve customers.
M&S aims to expand its food store network to approximately 420 stores by the end of 2028 as it continues its financial recovery following a cyberattack earlier this year. The attack, costing the company around £300 million, resulted in a temporary halt to online orders for six weeks. The incident was part of a wave of cyberattacks on retailers in the UK, affecting companies like Co-op and Harrods. Graeme Stewart, from security company Check Point, highlighted the increase in ransomware attacks on UK retailers, with the sector now among the most targeted, following the public sector entities like NHS, local government, and Ministry of Defence.