Oxford Street risks becoming a “dinosaur district destined for extinction”, the head of Marks & Spencer has warned in a growing row with Michael Gove over the redevelopment of the retailer’s flagship store.
Stuart Machin, chief executive of M&S, said that London’s most famous shopping street is on “its knees” and sliding into irrelevance after falling prey to a “growing proliferation of tacky candy stores”.
Writing in the Telegraph, he called on Mr Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, to allow M&S to demolish its landmark Marble Arch shop and replace it with a 10-storey retail and office block.
The retailer had secured approval from Westminster City Council and the Greater London Authority for the proposal, but Mr Gove has seized control of the planning application amid concerns about its environmental impact.
Writing in The Telegraph, Mr Machin hit back at the Department for Levelling Up, saying there were “clear sustainability benefits to our plans”.
He added: “We need to back innovation, not breed a dinosaur district destined for extinction.
“We know Westminster Council is making attempts to arrest its decline and the New West End Company… is leading calls for the Government to get behind investment to restore Oxford Street as a global shopping destination.”
The latest intervention comes after Mr Gove issued a so-called Article 31 order forcing developers to put the project on hold.
It will now be referred to a public inquiry overseen by the independent planning inspector, which will present its recommendation to the Government. The process is expected to take at least six months.
Campaigners have lobbied against the proposals, citing concerns about the amount of carbon released during the construction process.
It is understood it will take about 16 years for the building to make up for the initial damage to the environment.
But Mr Machin said the proposed store will use less than a quarter of the energy of the current building and will significantly exceed the Government’s carbon reduction targets.
The retail boss also said Oxford Street is in desperate need of investment as retailers flee from the area.
He said: “When I walk down Oxford Street today, I see a stark reality staring back at me. One in five shops sit vacant, there is a growing proliferation of tacky candy stores and near £600,000 of counterfeit goods have been seized from hawkers this year.
“The effects of Covid have brought a street that was once the jewel of UK shopping to its knees.
“Footfall remains 30pc down on already dwindling pre-pandemic levels, with recovery in Oxford Street trailing its near cousins in Bond Street and Regent Street, both of which have benefited from significant redevelopment and investment.
“With inflation at a 30-year high, the pressure on both retailers and consumers discretionary income will only increase.”
The dispute highlights the conflict between Mr Gove’s levelling up agenda and the Government’s broader net zero ambitions.
Mr Gove last year blocked the 305-metre Tulip tower in the City of London, partly on environmental grounds, while he is also due to decide whether to intervene in a £400m project to redevelop ITV’s former South Bank studios.
The Government has said it will only call in applications when they involve planning issues of more than local importance.
Mr Machin said: “Our investment will deliver far more than carbon reduction; it will be a better place for our customers to shop, a better place for our colleagues to work, and a better public realm for our community. Today and tomorrow. Am I mad to think that is something worthy of the Government’s support?”
A spokesman for the Levelling Up Department said: “‘This is a disappointing response from M&S.
“Call-in decisions are made in line with established policy. It is right that a project of such significance should be considered by the independent planning inspectorate and ministers.”
‘Oxford Street will die unless Gove allows M&S revamp’
By Stuart Machin
A weekend article in the Telegraph (The net zero row saving British landmarks from bulldozers, 19 June) rightly spotlights the question of how to reconcile a net zero strategy with an increasingly urgent levelling up agenda.
Marks & Spencer’s Marble Arch redevelopment proposal, the only retail-led regeneration in Oxford Street, has become somewhat of a lightning rod in this debate.
As chief executive, I feel privileged to be the custodian of a rich 138-year heritage. My commitment from the day I joined has been to protect the magic of M&S while modernising the rest, so we’re around for another 138 years.
Protecting the magic means holding true to the things our customers love about M&S: our leading product innovation, our quality and exceptional sourcing standards, and our longstanding reputation for doing the right thing by our people and the planet.
Today, that means reaching our target of becoming net zero scope 3 by 2040, a full decade ahead of the Government’s 2050 ambition.
Modernising the rest means removing the impediments to growth and re-shaping our business for today’s digital era so we can compete against online and discount retailers.
It means making our supply chains faster and more efficient, jump starting our use of tech to improve customer experience, and critically, building a fit for the future store estate. This last part is made all the more challenging when over 40pc of our stores pre-date the second world war.