Bradford city centre Marks & Spencer to close permanently

Marks & Spencer has confirmed its clothing and food store in the centre of Bradford will close for good next month, in a fresh blow to the city’s high street.

The anchor store in The Broadway Shopping Centre, which also features a cafe, will shut on 18 May.

M&S said changing shopping habits meant there was a need for a “transformation” within the business, adding it has to ensure “we have the right stores in the right place and with the right space.”

The retailer states it is, “continuing discussions with colleagues about what this decision means for them” – and affected staff will be offered alternative roles with the retailer “wherever possible”.

The Broadway store has been trading since the opening of the Bradford leisure and shopping complex in 2015, but M&S’s presence in the city dates back more than a century.

Before moving to the Broadway Centre the business had a long-established store in nearby Darley Street.