M&S opens largest, greenest store in the North
RETAILER Marks & Spencer has opened the doors at its new Cheshire Oaks store, which at 151,000 sq ft is its largest outside London.
Absolutely Fabulous actress Joanna Lumley joined chief executive Marc Bolland for a ribbon-cutting at the retailer’s new North West flagship, which has taken more than three years to build.
The store, which employs 500 people, is the biggest M&S has ever built from scratch and is its most sustainable.
It is the first retail store to have a 100% glulam roof – glulam is a type of engineered softwood timber but it is as strong as steel or concrete. The store uses hemp and lime external wall panels, which have good insulation properties and also carbon from the atmosphere.
It is 30% more energy efficient than other M&S stores with 70% of heating for the store coming from a biomass boiler plant and heat reclamation. It also has an 80,000 litre rainwater harvesting tank.
With a BREEAM ‘excellent’ rating, the shop features a number of “climate change resilient features”, including a green wall and white reflective roof.
Other features include: the biggest M&S home department in the UK at 18,000 sq ft; a 30,000 sq ft womenswear department; a new beauty offer spread across 2,700 sq ft, featuring exclusive beauty product ranges sourced from Europe and the USA; and one of the largest Food halls of any M&S store in the world – with over 7,000 lines.
Steve Rowe, M&S director of retail, said: “In line with our strategy to develop an exciting, easy to shop retail experience for our customers, our Cheshire Oaks store will encapsulate the latest & very best of M&S design and cutting-edge retail technology.
“Here at our brand new flagship store, our customers will find a fresh approach to shopping and customers service, enhanced by interactive technology that creates a truly unique consumer environment. This store represents the future of retail – a dynamic, interactive space that will redefine what it is like to shop at M&S.”
