UK retailer Marks & Spencer plans to invest £30 million (€35.1 million) in brick-and-mortar stores across Scotland.
The project will see the launch of more than five new Marks & Spencer stores, as well as the expansion of existing outlets over the next 18 months, the company added.
Describing the move as the company's "biggest ever investment" in Scotland, Sacha Berendji, M&S operations director, added that the initiative will transform the shopping experience for customers in Aberdeen, Largs, Dundee, and Linlithgow and create new jobs across the country.
Berendji added, "Our investment in Scotland goes beyond new stores with M&S sourcing more Scottish produce than ever before, through strong partnerships with local producers.
"Around 2,500 Scottish farms, sea farms and fisheries supply us with great quality products, many supplied beyond Scotland to M&S stores across the UK. Our commitment to Scotland has never been stronger."
Investment Plan
Marks & Spencer will invest £15 million (€17.55 million) in expanding its Aberdeen Union Square store to almost double its current size.
It will add a fresh market-style food hall with a flower shop, cheese barge, larger in-store bakery and M&S Wine Shop, as well as bigger clothing, home, and beauty departments.
Rachel Rankine, North East regional manager for M&S, said, “The scale of our investment is a vote of confidence in the future of retail in Aberdeen city centre, with a flagship store on the same scale as city centre stores in Birmingham and Liverpool.
"Where we have already invested in new formats, our customers have responded to the destination shopping experience and Aberdeen shoppers can look forward to having a bigger, better, fresher food hall and the best in M&S clothing and home."
In addition to a new M&S Foodhall launching in Linlithgow later this month, the retailer will invest in a new full-line store in Dundee’s Gallagher Retail Park, scheduled to open this summer.
M&S added that it will also enter Largs with a new food hall in early 2025."
Earlier, the British retailer reported a better-than-expected 8.1% rise in sales over the Christmas trading period, driven by market-leading growth in food and a strong performance in womenswear.
