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07

Sept 2022

Last Updated: 07/09/2022
Business
Business

M&S café in Harrogate saved after U-turn

by John Plummer

| 07 Sept, 2022
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Marks & Spencer announced in December the café would close as part of expansion plans but it has changed its mind.

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Marks & Spencer has decided to retain a café at its Leeds Road food hall in Harrogate after previously saying it would close.

The company announced in December it planned to increase the size of its food hall at Oatlands by more than 70% and extend into the neighbouring Sofa.com retail unit.

It said the scheme would enable it to 'deliver a bigger, better and fresher new-look food hall' but that it would mean closing the in-store café.



The café is a popular meeting point and the news prompted a petition calling for it to be retained.

M&S has now confirmed to the Stray Ferret that its new look food hall will include a café.

The woman who organised the petition, who lives near the food hall but asked not to be named, said the manager of the store had contacted her to say the café would be retained but would be smaller. She said she understood it was likely to be similar in size to the new Pret shop in Harrogate town centre.

But she welcomed the decision to retain the café:

"I’m pleased. There isn’t a café like it in the area. It’s a place people go to meet friends, especially older people.
"I think they recognise the whole community uses it and a lot of people said they wouldn’t go there any more if it closed."