Shock at sudden closure of Drogheda’s M&S with 57 job losses

The sudden announcement of the closure of the Marks & Spencer store in Drogheda will result in the loss of 57 jobs.

The employees were informed first thing Tuesday morning and in a statement, management said that unfortunately, due to declining footfall and sales, M&S has had to make the difficult decision to close the M&S Drogheda store. The store will close on Friday, March 8 next.

“M&S is committed to Ireland and we have ambitious plans for growth including doubling the number of Irish-based suppliers we work with. Our recent Christmas trading figures show we’re heading in the right direction. However, we also need to modernise our business to safeguard what we have achieved,” said Eddie Murphy, Country Director Ireland & Northern Ireland.

“Shopping habits are changing, and we are shaping our store estate to focus our investment on the right stores in the right places.

“We have made the tough decision to close our Drogheda store because the shopping centre has low occupancy – requiring significant investment – and its sales performance is behind the rest of our store estate. We’ve shared this news with affected colleagues today and our priority now is to support them through these changes.

“We understand there will be some disappointment with our announcement, but we believe that this decision is the right one for the future of M&S in Ireland – allowing us to invest in our store estate, expand our Irish supply base and continue to build our partnership with Applegreen, whilst offering our customers exceptional value, quality, service and innovation.”

The departure of one of the main anchor tenants in the shopping centre, which occupies c.30,500sq.ft of the overall space, will also have an adverse effect on the footfall in the centre.

The centre opened in 2005, and there were celebrations when it was announced that the British retail giant would invest in the centre, with the only flagship store in the North East.

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