London is still on life support: its stores need this investment

I’M A proud Londoner. It’s the city where I live, where I work, and where I most love to go walking with my dog.

London is also a special place for M&S. Our first store in the capital opened in 1913, offering customers the same high quality great value products that we’re famous for today. M&S stores have been a permanent fixture across the city’s streets ever since.

Over a third of our store estate is located throughout London, our first ever Simply Food opened here, and Clapham Junction was where we developed and launched our renewal format which we’ve been rolling out across the country since 2019.

London has always put us on a global stage. We’ve been backdrops to major events and historical moments from the Platinum Jubilee to London’s annual Pride, and we’ll be ready in two weeks’ time to do the same again when more than a quarter of a million people descend for the King’s Coronation.

But the truth is London is falling way behind other major global cities.