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Plans for a new Marks and Spencer foodhall have been approved in Croydon, meaning Percy Pig fans in the area will now have three – yep, three! – local stores to choose from.
The new shop on Brighton Road in Purley will be in the former Milk and More dairy site, which is currently vacant. Plans for the space, approved by Croydon Council in February, include a car park with 68 spots, and 22 studio spaces for local creatives. The store itself will occupy the majority of the three old dairy buildings, which have locally listed frontages that will be restored as part of the development.
William Smith, Property Director at M&S, said: ‘We’re reshaping M&S for growth and making sure we have the right stores in the right space to deliver the best possible shopping experience for customers. The show stopping store will support local suppliers and will offer shoppers a fresh market style Foodhall brimming with fresh produce, sourced from M&S’ Select Farm Partners.’
The project will bring a total of 120 jobs to the area, including 55 in store roles.
Jason Perry, executive mayor of Croydon, welcomed the development, and said that the new food hall ‘signals that this is an area that retailers want to invest in.’
Grove Property, who submitted the plans and will now be responsible for developing the site, received an overwhelmingly positive response to their public consultation, with 96 percent of local respondents in support of the project.
Nick Snashall, co-founder of Grove Property, said: ‘Having acquired the site from Milk & More our vision was to breathe new life into the area. We are excited to enter the delivery phase of this project, which will bring much needed inward investment and new job opportunities to the area.’
M&S, named the UK’s best supermarket by Which? this year, recently opened a second Croydon store on Purley Way in 2023, and has another location in the Whitgift Centre.
ICYMI: M&S's flagship Oxford Street store is being knocked down this year.
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