Marks & Spencer opens Oxford Street flagship in £700 million push

Marks & Spencer has opened its transformed Pantheon flagship at 173 Oxford Street, turning one of London’s best-known retail addresses into a live test of its £700 million growth strategy. The store, which the company says is its first full-line research-and-development site for Fashion, Home and Beauty, brings together Food, Fashion, Home and Beauty across four floors and about 100,000 sq ft.

The revamp is more than a cosmetic refresh. M&S is using the Oxford Street site to trial the sort of presentation, layout and product mix it wants across the rest of its estate, in a market where retailers are under pressure to deliver both sharper physical stores and a stronger reason to shop in person. A flagship on Oxford Street carries extra weight because it can influence shoppers, investors and landlords well beyond central London.

The company has a clearer balance sheet to support the bet. In its 2025 full-year results, issued on 21 May 2025, M&S said profit before tax and adjusting items rose 22.2% to £875.5 million, the highest in more than 15 years. Food sales increased 8.7% to £9.0 billion, while Fashion, Home & Beauty sales rose 3.5% to £4.2 billion. M&S also reported net funds excluding lease liabilities of £437.8 million in 2024/25.

That cash generation has already fed through to store investment. In April 2025, M&S said it was putting more than £90 million into London stores, a programme that included 17 new and improved stores and the creation of 450 local jobs. The Oxford Street opening sits inside that wider push, which is designed to refresh the estate while keeping the brand visible on high-footfall streets.

The site itself carries unusual historical weight. M&S says its store at 173 Oxford Street has stood there since 1938, while its first London store opened there in 1903 before the business moved to the current site in 1931. The Pantheon building has long been part of the West End’s retail story, and that history helped intensify debate over its future. In 2023, SAVE Britain’s Heritage published The Battle for M&S Oxford Street, arguing the case mattered because the building is part of Oxford Street’s architectural and retail history.

Planning approval was another hurdle. BBC reported that Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner granted permission for M&S to demolish and redevelop its Marble Arch flagship, underscoring how closely the retailer’s capital spending has been tied to real estate decisions. With the Oxford Street store now open, M&S is presenting the project as a blueprint for how legacy chains can keep growing through destination stores, premium presentation and a more efficient estate.