Marks & Spencer expansion: Leighton Buzzard, Wendover and Northwich put on M&S Food ‘wishlist’ as 500 new locations revealed

Marks & Spencer has confirmed that Leighton Buzzard, Wendover and Northwich are all on a new national “target locations” list for potential M&S Food stores, as the retailer accelerates a major expansion of its grocery business across the UK.

The list, published in late November and expanded on in local coverage in early December, sets out 500 towns, cities and suburbs where M&S is actively hunting for sites for new or renewed Foodhalls. ^[1]

While no store is guaranteed, being on this wishlist is the clearest sign yet that the retailer wants a bigger footprint in these three communities – including a possible return to Northwich six years after closing its town-centre branch. ^[2]

M&S’s 500-town wishlist: what’s changed since November

On 22 November 2025, Marks & Spencer published a corporate update confirming it had drawn up a list of 500 “potential locations” for new and renewed food stores as part of a plan to double the size of its food business. ^[3]

Key points from the company’s expansion strategy include:

• 500 target locations across the UK for possible M&S Food stores or major refurbishments. ^[4]
• A medium‑term goal of around 180 full‑line stores and 420 Food stores, creating a network heavily weighted towards grocery. ^[5]
• 20 new or renewed stores opening between November and March, expected to create around 800 jobs. ^[6]
• A push to make Foodhalls significantly larger, targeting around 18,000 sq ft of trading space per store so they can carry the full M&S Food range. ^[7]
• An ambition for more than half of the entire UK store estate to be in the new “renewal” format by April 2028, with wider aisles, bigger trolleys and larger car parks for family shopping. ^[8]

The expansion comes in the wake of a major cyberattack earlier in 2025, which several outlets report wiped around £324 million from profits and left group pre‑tax earnings at just £3.4 million for the first half of the year – a 99% drop year‑on‑year. ^[9]

Despite that setback, the food arm has been a standout performer. Industry coverage notes that M&S Food’s UK grocery share is now close to 4%, with food sales up strongly and operating profits rising, giving the company the confidence to invest heavily in stores. ^[10]

Against that backdrop, the appearance of Leighton Buzzard, Wendover and Northwich on the new wishlist is highly significant locally – but it’s important to understand what “target location” status really means.

What a ‘target location’ actually means (and what it doesn’t)

M&S’s 500‑town list is published via a property requirements brochure aimed at landlords, developers and site agents. The retailer is effectively advertising the types of sites it wants to hear about in each location. ^[11]

Key details from the corporate materials and trade press:

• The list includes places with and without existing M&S stores – some could see relocations, upsizings or second sites. ^[12]
• M&S is primarily looking for high‑visibility, easily accessible plots capable of delivering at least c. 18,000 sq ft of food trading space (around 25,000 sq ft gross). ^[13]
• Within the M25, the company will consider smaller units from around 6,000 sq ft, but outside London it is generally targeting larger roadside or retail‑park style sites with substantial parking. ^[14]
• Local press in other target areas has stressed that no planning applications have yet been submitted; for now the list reflects speculative site‑searching, not confirmed stores. ^[15]

In other words, appearing on the list does not mean a new store is signed and sealed. It means:

M&S wants to talk to landowners and developers in your area about potential sites.

Deals still depend on commercial viability, planning permission, and the wider store rotation programme – which includes closing some older outlets while opening newer, larger Foodhalls elsewhere. ^[16]

With that in mind, here’s what we know so far about the three towns the user asked about.

Leighton Buzzard: a growing town on M&S’s radar – again

Already home to a Foodhall – but room for more?

Leighton Buzzard is already served by an M&S Foodhall at Grovebury Retail Park, opened in 2019 and trading seven days a week. ^[17]

However, a new piece in the Leighton Buzzard Observer on 2 December confirms that the town has now been named on the new 500‑location target list for further M&S Food investment. ^[18]

The article notes:

• Leighton Buzzard is one of several Bedfordshire locations on the list, alongside Bedford South, Flitwick and Putnoe. ^[19]
• M&S is specifically searching for “large sites” capable of stocking its full food range, in line with the new 18,000 sq ft average‑size ambition. ^[20]

The presence of an existing Foodhall doesn’t disqualify the town from the wishlist. In many parts of the country, M&S is:

• Upsizing older, smaller food stores into modern retail‑park formats, or
• Adding a second site where population growth and road networks justify two catchments.

The company has already pursued a similar strategy through its acquisition of 12 former Homebase sites, where it is creating some of its largest standalone Foodhalls, backed by significant investment and hundreds of new jobs. ^[21]

What might change on the ground?

There are three realistic scenarios for Leighton Buzzard over the next few years:

1. No change – if a suitable larger site cannot be found or justified, the existing Grovebury Foodhall could remain the only M&S presence.
2. Relocation or major extension – if M&S concludes that the existing unit is too small for a “full‑range” offer, it might seek a larger footprint within Grovebury Retail Park or nearby.
3. Second Foodhall or hybrid store – if local demographics and road access support it, M&S could potentially add a second food‑led store, perhaps on a prominent roadside site serving a different part of the town’s catchment.

At this stage, no planning application has been lodged, and M&S has not publicly confirmed which of those paths it prefers. The new wishlist simply signals that Leighton Buzzard is firmly on the agenda for the next wave of Foodhall upgrades.

Wendover and Aylesbury Vale: a potential new Foodhall for the Chilterns

New M&S store in Wendover among Aylesbury Vale expansion plans

On the same day as the Leighton Buzzard coverage, sister title The Bucks Herald reported that Wendover has been earmarked for a potential new M&S Foodhall, as part of a cluster of sites across Aylesbury Vale. ^[22]

According to that report:

• M&S has identified Wendover on its target list, with proposals that could see a new food store created in or around the village. ^[23]
• Several other towns in the area – Aylesbury, Princes Risborough, Buckingham, and nearby Tring and Thame – are also on the company’s radar for either new Foodhalls or expansions of existing food sections. ^[24]
• As nationally, the strategy is to move to larger sites that can support a fuller food range, encourage weekly big shops and deliver wider aisles, bigger trolleys and larger car parks. ^[25]

The Aylesbury area already hosts a significant M&S Foodhall at Broadfields, which serves much of the Vale. ^[26] Adding Wendover – a growing, affluent community on the edge of the Chilterns – would give M&S a stronger presence along key commuter routes and tourist corridors.

Wendover has been in M&S’s sights for years

Interestingly, this is not the first time Wendover has appeared on an M&S property wishlist.

A 2023 M&S UK property flyer listed Wendover among a smaller group of target towns in the South East, alongside nearby places such as Thame and Tring, highlighting long‑standing interest in the local catchment. ^[27]

The difference in late 2025 is scale and urgency:

• The new 500‑location list is far broader and tied directly to a corporate commitment to double the Food business. ^[28]
• M&S is openly appealing for sites that can deliver 6,000–25,000 sq ft of modern food retail space – a range echoed in Buckinghamshire Council’s own retail capacity studies for large supermarkets. ^[29]

For local residents, that means talks between landowners, developers, the council and M&S are more likely to crystallise into real proposals over the next couple of years.

However, as with Leighton Buzzard, there are no planning applications on file yet, and the precise location and format of any future Wendover store remain undecided.

Northwich: could M&S return six years after Barons Quay closure?

From closure in 2019…

Northwich’s relationship with M&S has been complicated.

In January 2019, the retailer confirmed that its store at Barons Quay shopping centre was among 17 UK branches set to close as part of a major restructuring of the store estate. ^[30]

That closure was widely reported as a blow to both the town centre and the £71m Barons Quay development, where M&S had been a key anchor alongside Asda and the Odeon cinema. ^[31]

…to target-list comeback in 2025

Fast‑forward almost seven years, and Northwich is back on M&S’s radar.

A LiverpoolWorld breakdown of the new 500‑town list shows that M&S has identified 39 potential locations across the North West, including a cluster in Cheshire. The list specifically name‑checks Northwich, alongside Cheshire neighbours such as Frodsham, Knutsford, Middlewich and Stockton Heath. ^[32]

Separate coverage focused on Cheshire notes that six locations in the county have been earmarked for possible M&S Food stores, with Northwich among them. ^[33]

Local interest has been intense:

• Social posts highlight that many residents have long wanted M&S “back in Northwich” after the loss of the Barons Quay store. ^[34]
• A Yahoo‑syndicated article from the Northwich & Winsford Guardian describes how M&S now “seems to be setting its sights on Mid Cheshire more than six years after shutting in Northwich”, with the town on the new target list. ^[35]

‘Ongoing negotiations’ and talk of a new site

Although the full Guardian article is behind technical rate limits online, repeated social posts by the Northwich & Winsford Guardian trail it with the line that the potential M&S Foodhall is the subject of “ongoing negotiations”. ^[36]

Crucially:

• Yahoo’s summary of the story notes that Northwich is on the list for a new M&S Food store, and that a Barons Quay branch was considered as one option but is not the only site in play. ^[37]
• Local Facebook discussion suggests that some residents believe a new store could instead be built on land near the Arnold Clark site by the A556, although this is unconfirmed and not backed by any planning application at present. ^[38]

If a new Northwich Foodhall does go ahead, it would mark a symbolic return for M&S to a town where it had traded for more than a century before 2019, and where the brand still enjoys strong recognition. ^[39]

Why these three towns make strategic sense for M&S

Looking at all three locations together, a clear pattern emerges in how M&S is choosing potential sites.

1. Growing, affluent catchments

Leighton Buzzard, Wendover and Northwich all sit in growth corridors with:

• Significant recent or planned housing development.
• Road and rail connections that allow a Foodhall to pull in trade from a wider hinterland.

These are exactly the types of markets where a premium‑leaning grocer can capture weekly “big shop” spend from families who might previously have used M&S mainly for treats or top‑up baskets.

2. Room for modern, car‑led formats

The new store model M&S is pushing is heavily based on:

• Retail parks or roadside locations,
• Dedicated car parking, and
• Straightforward access from major roads. ^[40]

All three areas have:

• Existing or potential edge‑of‑town sites that fit those criteria.
• A local road network where a Foodhall can intercept commuter and leisure traffic heading to nearby cities or countryside hotspots.

3. Store rotation: out with older sites, in with Foodhalls

M&S is still closing some traditional high‑street and full‑line stores (Wolverhampton’s long‑standing city‑centre branch, for example, shut its doors in September as part of the same rotation strategy). ^[41]

That frees up capital to:

• Invest in larger, more efficient Foodhalls, and
• Re‑enter selected towns (such as Northwich) with a very different format from the older, general‑merchandise stores that previously traded there.

Economic impact: what a full-scale M&S Foodhall could mean locally

Although M&S has not published job estimates for specific towns, its own announcements offer some useful benchmarks:

• 12 new Food stores on former Homebase sites are set to create more than 550 jobs – roughly 45+ roles per store. ^[42]
• 20 new or renewed stores between November and March will create around 800 jobs, or about 40 per location on average. ^[43]

On that basis, a large, standalone Foodhall in Leighton Buzzard, Wendover or Northwich could reasonably support dozens of permanent roles, plus construction and fit‑out work during the build phase.

Other likely local impacts include:

• Increased choice for shoppers, especially in premium and “treat” categories where M&S has a strong brand.
• Competitive pressure on existing supermarkets (Tesco, Aldi, Lidl, Waitrose and others), which may respond with price, range or service improvements.
• Potential knock‑on effects for independent food retailers, who could face tougher competition but may also benefit from increased footfall if sites are integrated into wider retail schemes.

Because M&S is focusing on larger, edge‑of‑centre formats, councils will also be weighing:

• Traffic and parking implications.
• How a new Foodhall might support or undermine town‑centre regeneration efforts.

Northwich, in particular, has a delicate balance to manage: the town is still seeking to fully establish Barons Quay, and must decide whether any new M&S presence should reinforce the existing scheme or sit elsewhere on the edge of town.

Timelines: when might anything actually open?

So far, M&S has only said that:

• Eight new food‑only stores are scheduled to open by the end of the current financial year. ^[44]
• More than 20 stores in total will be opened or modernised in this period. ^[45]

Those are drawn from a pipeline that was already in progress before the 500‑town list was published. For new target locations – especially where sites have not yet been identified – the process typically involves:

1. Site identification and negotiation (with landowners, agents and councils).
2. Design and planning applications, potentially including environmental assessments and local consultations.
3. Construction, fit‑out and recruitment.

In UK grocery, that journey can easily take 18–36 months from serious site search to opening, sometimes longer if planning is contentious. That means that:

• For Leighton Buzzard, Wendover and Northwich, any new store arising specifically from this wishlist is unlikely to open before late 2026 at the earliest, and could slip into 2027–28.
• Residents should therefore see the current media coverage as the start of a long process, not a sign that opening dates are imminent.

How residents can track what happens next

If you live in or around Leighton Buzzard, Wendover or Northwich and want to stay on top of developments, here are practical ways to do it:

• Watch local planning portals
  • Search your council’s planning website for “Marks & Spencer”, “M&S Foodhall” or the names of likely retail sites and retail parks.
• Follow local media and M&S announcements
  • Outlets like the Leighton Buzzard Observer, Bucks Herald, Northwich & Winsford Guardian and regional titles such as LiverpoolWorld have been first to pick up on M&S’s target lists. ^[46]
  • M&S itself publishes press releases and property requirements brochures on its corporate website, which are updated periodically. ^[47]
• Look out for consultation events
  • For bigger schemes, developers often hold public exhibitions or drop‑in sessions before or during the planning process.
• Engage with local representatives
  • Councillors in all three towns are already fielding questions about M&S. Public pressure – for or against – can shape how councils respond to any future proposals.

Key facts at a glance

• Marks & Spencer has launched a list of 500 UK “target locations” for new or renewed M&S Food stores as it seeks to double the size of its food business and modernise its store estate. ^[48]
• The plan comes after a major cyberattack that wiped hundreds of millions from profits and triggered a 99% slump in pre‑tax earnings, even as the Food division continues to grow. ^[49]
• Leighton Buzzard is already home to a 2019‑opened M&S Foodhall but is now on the new wishlist, suggesting M&S is exploring a larger or additional food‑led site in the area. ^[50]
• Wendover, along with Aylesbury, Princes Risborough, Buckingham, Tring and Thame, has been named in Aylesbury Vale expansion plans that could see a brand‑new Foodhall created if a viable site is found. ^[51]
• Northwich, where M&S closed its Barons Quay store in 2019, is back on the map as one of 39 potential North West locations, with local leaders describing discussions over a possible new Foodhall as “ongoing negotiations”. ^[52]

As of early December 2025, no store has yet been confirmed or submitted for planning in Leighton Buzzard, Wendover or Northwich – but their inclusion on M&S’s 500‑town wishlist signals that all three are firmly in the frame for the next phase of the retailer’s Foodhall‑led transformation.

References

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