M&S has unveiled plans to create a ‘brand-defining’ 60,000 sq ft store at Ipswich’s Copdock Interchange, subject to planning permission.
The retailer plans to build a store selling food, clothing and beauty products along with an 80-seater M&S café, creating 90 jobs.
M&S’s existing storers in the town at Westgate Street, Martlesham Heath Retail Park, and its convenience store at Ipswich Hospital would remain.
Will Smith, property director at M&S, said: “At the Copdock site, we have a unique opportunity to create a brand defining M&S store in Ipswich alongside our existing Westgate Street presence and grow our footprint across East Anglia.
“The show stopping store, offering food, clothing and beauty, would be one of the most modern in the UK and create over 90 new jobs. From a fresh market-style foodhall brimming with seasonal produce to stylish clothing that always delivers trusted value, we would be able to offer the very best of M&S to customers.
“We are confident that an M&S at Copdock Interchange would be a brilliant shopping destination and a fantastic investment in Ipswich and the local community.”
The investment has been enabled by Ipswich Borough Council and Suffolk County Council, as owners of the freehold and long leasehold of the site.
Cllr Neil MacDonald, leader of Ipswich Borough Council, said:“This is fantastic news for Ipswich. Ipswich gets the best of M&S with a new store at Copdock and a town centre store – something many other towns and cities can only dream of.
“The impact on Ipswich can only be positive – millions of pounds of investment from a national retailer delivering almost a hundred new jobs and supporting the Suffolk supply chain is a real coup in this economy.”
The sale of the long leasehold on the site was carried out by Ipswich Borough Assets, an Ipswich Borough Council owned company.
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