What: Marks & Spencer is heavily reviewing its real estate footprint.

Why it is important: Marks & Spencer’s move away away from city centre locations into easier-to-access stores that include bigger plots with free parking will likely reverse the vision of retailers in the UK and US.

Marks & Spencer is halfway through a costly plan to modernise its stores by 2028. The eventual bill will be more than GBP1bn, but the 138-year-old chain insists the strategy is starting to pay off. At a recent investor presentation, M&S cited a 30 % rise in clothing sales and a 75% increase in food since it shut a store in the centre of the Welsh town Llandudno and opened a new one in a retail park.

M&S wants to become a destination for large weekly shops rather than “top-ups” of treats and ready meals. To do that it needs large, open-plan stores with easy access and free parking, and fewer odd-shaped sites in town centres with limited access.

Marks & Spencer seeks out-of-town real estate