£4m Marks and Spencer food hall to open in autumn

Marks and Spencer says it intends to open a new £4m food hall in Selby.

It said the site, which is at Three Lakes Retail Park on Bawtry Road, is due to launch this autumn.

This is part of the business’s strategy to reduce the number of its “full-line” stores, increase its number of grocery outlets and shift some stores out of town centres.

So far the programme has seen city centre M&S sites in both Bradford and Barnsley close.

The retailer has previously explained that it aims to have fewer but better main stores, in response to shoppers spending more online.

Commenting on its plans for the food hall in Selby, the company says this will build on more than £20m it has already invested in its stores across Yorkshire over the last financial year.

Nikki McKidd, M&S stores director for the North of England and Scotland, told the BBC: “We have over 40 stores across Yorkshire and the Humber and it’s fantastic to be investing an additional £4m for shoppers in Selby.”

M&S has not said how many jobs the Selby store will create, but says recruitment is likely to be taking place over the summer.