The retailer is focusing on offering more choice of products in its food halls
A file photo of a Marks & Spencer sign(Image: PA)
The M&S Cafés at Kingswood Retail Park has been named as one of the 14 being shut down nationally. It follows the closure of the one at Anlaby Retail Park at the end of last year.
When Hull Live asked Marks & Spencer about how the closure would affect jobs, a spokesperson said that “colleagues will be redeployed to other roles across the foodhall”.
It is understood the retailer is closing down cafés in some locations so it can offer a wider range of products in its food halls, which it said was in response to customer demand. One customer of the Kingswood store wrote to Hull Live to say she and other café regulars were “greatly saddened” by the news and felt sorry for staff who were being moved into other roles.
She said: “There is quite a few of us that have become friends through meeting in there. It is also disabled friendly and caters for people with dietary restrictions.”
The Food Hall at Anlaby Retail Park has been shut for more than a month for a ‘refresh’, with the former café not returning. After closing on January 24, the store is expected to reopen in March.
Meanwhile, a new, larger, store at Kingswood Retail Park is expected to open in “Autumn/Winter 2027”. The new store will take up part of the unit which currently houses Matalan.
The unit is to be divided into two, with Matalan keeping one side, and M&S moving into the other. Planning documents submitted to Hull City Council stated that “the existing premises is too large for Matalan’s business model requirements.”
Similarly, it was said that the current M&S food store at Kingswood is “too small to meet M&S’s business model requirements” – making it seem like a win-win for the two brands.
M&S cafés set to close:
- Anlaby, East Riding of Yorkshire (already closed)
- Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
- Martlesham Heath, Ipswich
- Bidston Moss
- Bishop Auckland
- South Aylesford, Kent
- Strood Retail Park, Kent
- Whitstable, Kent
- Canterbury, Kent
- Sittingbourne Retail Park
- Crawley, West Sussex
- Dunblane, Stirling, Scotland
- Congleton, Cheshire
- Stone, Staffordshire
This comes after it was revealed there are no current business plans for Marks & Spencer to return to Hull city centre. The retailer was based in Whitefriargate until 2019.
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