M&S to close 11 cafés amid £300,000,000 shake-up

Marks & Spencer (M&S) is closing nearly a dozen of its in-store cafés.

The high street giant confirmed to Metro that it is closing down 11 coffee shops in its food-hall stores to make space for more groceries.

Metro understands that a full list of the closures is not public yet, as the company is informing impacted staff about the shake-up.

No jobs will be lost, with staff being moved elsewhere.

The retailer operates more than 300 cafés, coffee shops and coffee-to-go kiosks, with the closings impacting just 4% of its 316 food locations.

More fresh produce and meal options will instead be offered in the 11 stores as the shuttered cafes are ‘re-purposed’, M&S told Metro.

This is all part of an £300million investment to increase the number of M&S food halls to 420 by the end of 2028.

A spokesperson added: ‘As we look to modernise our food business and offer the best of M&S Food to more people, more often, we’re investing in our store estate to give our customers the widest possible product range.

‘This includes opening brand-new coffee shops offering delicious food and barista-made fairtrade coffee, including at our brand-new Bristol Cabot Circus store.’

Emily Keogh, the founder of the PR agency Palm, said the closures, while small, reflect how the shoppers want ‘experiences’ over pitstops.

‘The traditional in-store café was functional – a place to pause during a shop – but as so much retail has moved online, people are browsing less in-store,’ she told Metro.

‘This means every choice they make about hospitality brands when shopping is now less functional and far more considered, aligning with the broader change in consumer mindset when it comes to physical shopping.’

It comes after M&S was disrupted by a cyber attack earlier this year that saw hackers take some customer data.

Online orders and Click & Collect services were suspended for nearly two months, while food deliveries were interrupted.

The retailer said the attack would cost it about £300million this year, though insurance will cover some of the fallout.

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