This morning TVBC Leader Councillor Phil North and I met with Marks & Spencer Retail Director, Sacha Berendji, in Parliament to continue to press the case for Marks & Spencer to retain a presence in Andover High Street. Once again we highlighted the massive goodwill for M&S amongst shoppers from Andover and the surrounding villages and pointed to the ever growing number of signatures on the petition organised by Councillors Iris Andersen and John Cockaday and crucially to the profitability of the store’s food section.
M&S should be thinking creatively about the future of the current store with its thriving food offer, prime location and “personal entrance” from the Black Swan Yard car-park. Instead the they continue to refuse to consider options such as subdividing the store. This is particularly galling given that they themselves admit that past under-investment by the company is behind M&S’s problems.
In light of the ambitious plans for Andover Town Centre such as the Town Mills Urban Park, the Cultural Quarter and the redevelopment of the Chantry Centre, this is immensely frustrating. However we were at least given commitments that, if the store does close, then the future of the staff will be a priority consideration.