Marks and Spencer has been given the green light by Angela Rayner to knock down and redevelop its flagship store on London‘s Oxford Street, bringing to a close a four-year planning row.
The retail giant wants to flatten the 1929 Art Deco building near Marble Arch, also known as Orchard House, and replace it with a 10-storey retail and office block, incorporating a smaller M&S store, pedestrian arcade, offices, a cafe and a gym.
On Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner granted the go-ahead to the scheme, for which a planning application to redevelop the store was first submitted by M&S in March 2021.
Today, CEO Stuart Machin said he was ‘delighted’ the development can go ahead after years of ‘delays, obfuscation and political posturing at its worst’, referring to previous Communities Secretary Michael Gove nixing the plans last July.
The Government report from July 2023 raised concerns that the public benefits were offset by the potential harm to nearby heritage landmarks and criticised the environmental impact of the redevelopment.
That decision was however overturned today after Ms Rayner cited the ‘significant employment and regeneration benefits’ of the development, The Standard reports.
Mr Machin said: ‘I am delighted that, after three unnecessary years of delays, obfuscation and political posturing at its worst, under the previous Government, our plans for Marble Arch – the only retail-led regeneration proposal on Oxford Street – have finally been approved.
‘We can now get on with the job of helping to rejuvenate the UK’s premier shopping street through a flagship M&S store and office space, which will support 2,000 jobs and act as a global standard-bearer for sustainability.
Marks and Spencer has been given the green light to knock down and redevelop its flagship store on London ‘s Oxford Street, bringing to a close a four-year planning row
‘We share the Government’s ambition to breathe life back into our cities and towns and are pleased to see they are serious about getting Britain building and growing.
‘We will now move as fast as we can.’
Ms Rayner’s backing comes after the High Court ruled in March that the Government had wrongly applied planning rules and ruled in favour of M&S five out of six points raised on the original decision.
News of the M&S scheme is likely to disappoint those who rigorously opposed the plans however.
Last year, a letter signed by 27 high-profile figures called for a halt and public inquiry into the scheme.
Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud and comedian Griff Rhys Jones – the president of the Victorian Society – were among those who signed the letter.
Organised by Save Britain’s Heritage, it read: ‘We believe the overall strategy for this site is wrong, with a development which is environmentally wasteful, destroys an elegant and important interwar building and, many feel, negatively affects Oxford Street and its wider West End neighbourhood. We should be adapting the building, not destroying it.
‘We now urge you to hold a public inquiry into these proposals which would unnecessarily pump nearly 40,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Angela Rayner cited the ‘significant employment and regeneration benefits’ of the development
Historic: The Marks and Spencer building on Oxford Street seen in December 1964
‘In contrast to the slow release of carbon from existing buildings, these emissions would be released immediately because of the vast quantity of raw materials required such as steel and concrete.’
It added: ‘While it cannot undo the harm caused by demolition, the proposed new M&S building makes several positive environmental moves and we believe this same design ingenuity could help deliver a comprehensive and successful retrofit scheme which would extend the life of this 1929 art deco landmark by another 100 years or more.’
The redevelopment plan at M&S is just the latest big change set to hit Oxford Street.
In 2021, IKEA was given the green light to convert the former Topshop outlet into one of its flat-pack furniture stores.
House of Fraser also closed its flagship Oxford Street store, while the former Debenhams building is currently undergoing a huge redevelopment after the chain went bust.
In 2020, John Lewis announced plans to convert a large chunk of its famous Oxford Street store into offices.
The John Lewis Partnership, which runs the department store chain and the Waitrose grocery arm, secured conditional planning permission from Westminster City Council in October 2020.
But last month the retailer announced a U-turn on those plans after its retail figures bounced back post-pandemic.
John Lewis now plans a major £800m upgrade of the store at 300 Oxford Street across all six floors, which will include a flagship Jamie Oliver Cookery School and Cafe on the third floor opening next year.