What: The group will open eight "full-line" stores in shopping centres such as the Bullring, Birmingham, and the Trafford Centre, Manchester, as well as in retail parks and high streets. It also will open 12 food halls, including in Stockport, Barnsley and the North Ayrshire seaside town of Largs, Scotland.

Why it is important: The group last November had proposed a target to reduce its full-line stores by 67 to 180 by 2028, while increasing its food-only stores by 104 to 420. Chief Executive Stuart Machin said that the investment in stores "fits into the levelling-up agenda, with the creation of jobs across the whole of the UK."

Marks & Spencer plans to open 20 new stores in Britain