M&S confirms it is considering Ripon expansion

Marks & Spencer has confirmed it is considering expanding its food hall in Ripon.

The Stray Ferret last week reported a planning application which indicated the M&S on St Michael’s Retail Park, on Rotary Way, was expanding into one of the vacant neighbouring units.

The plans sought approval for eight additional parent and child parking spaces, new EV parking spaces, a substation and two new trolley bays. 

The application also proposed reconfiguring entrances.

A letter submitted as part of the application by agents Savills talked about “upsizing of the existing M&S operation at the retail park”.

Staff at the Ripon site have told customers they plan to expand but M&S is saying little at this stage.

A spokesperson today told the Stray Ferret it was “looking into the possibility of expanding the store”.

They added, however, they are “not yet able to share any further information” due to being in the early stages of the process.

The news comes after German retailer Lidl scrapped plans to open at the same site. 

It was granted planning permission in September 2021, but work never commenced and the deal fell through.

The Stray Ferret understood at the time Lidl’s contract had expired following ongoing delays in the project.

The three neighbouring units have remained vacant since M&S opened in 2020.

Thank you for reading this article. Next week the Stray Ferret will become a subscription publication. For less than a pound a week you will be able to access all our content.

Please subscribe and support quality, local journalism - to find out more click here.