Shake-up plan for Marks & Spencer store in Morpeth including new apartments for upper floor
Plans for a shake-up of the Marks & Spencer (M&S) store in Morpeth town centre have been submitted to Northumberland County Council.
The proposals include a new 15-year lease and an upgrade to the store’s food offering, with M&S’s latest modern Food Hall layout and design.
If they are approved, the main shake-up will be converting the existing upper floor into nine new residential town centre apartments and back-of-house operations.
Most of the clothing available at the current store is on the upper floor and there is a M&S Cafe that would also no longer be available.
There is also a click and collect service on this floor and this would be retained in the new-look store to enable customers to continue to have access to the full M&S range.
M&S has been a cornerstone of Sanderson Arcade, run by Dransfield Properties, since it opened in 2009. The company is approaching the end of its current lease at the shopping centre.
Under the plans, the existing Food Hall will extend into the ground-floor general merchandise space.
James Shepherd, managing director of Dransfield Properties, said: “This is a really positive move for Morpeth and a real endorsement of our town centre first approach, protecting the town from out-of-town retail development.
“M&S committing to a new 15-year lease and investing in an expanded, modern Food Hall demonstrates the strength and potential of the town centre.
“Morpeth is one of the few areas in the country where successive authorities have promoted town centre first regeneration and resisted the easy option to build out of town.
“Our company is committed to investing in town centres, they are the economic and social heart of a community, and their strength is critical to long-term prosperity and well-being.
“We’re proud to have worked with the local authority for more than 20 years to enhance and diversify the town centre offer. A successful town centre drives demand, attracts investment and underpins the area’s overall desirability.
“This latest commitment from M&S will further support the long-term vitality of the town’s core and continue to deliver for local shoppers.”
Operating on the basis that the application is approved later this year, work is expected to begin in January next year – with the new-look Food Hall scheduled to open in the summer of 2027.