M&S warns flagship Oxford Street store will shut if rebuild refused

Marks & Spencer has said it will close its flagship Oxford Street store if it is not allowed to rebuild it.

The retailer wants to demolish its current Art Deco building near Marble Arch and build a new store, along with offices, an arcade, a cafe and a gym.

The central London scheme has attracted strong opposition and a public inquiry is deciding if it should go ahead.

M&S said it was "unsustainable" to continue trading in the current buildings.

Campaigners against the plans have urged the company to refurbish the existing buildings at 458 Oxford Street rather than replace them, due to heritage and environmental concerns.

SAVE Britain's Heritage believe the scheme should not be allowed because of the volume of embodied carbon likely to be released by bulldozing the buildings, called Orchard House.

In opening statements to the inquiry on Tuesday, Russell Harris KC, representing M&S, said there was "no heritage reason" why the three buildings on the site should not be demolished, as they are not listed, and do not sit within Westminster's conservation areas.

"Any heritage harm will be significantly outweighed by the benefits," Ms Harris told the inquiry.

He said the demolition would allow M&S to bring a "new flagship store of high architectural quality" to Oxford Street, which he said was currently "failing".

Mr Harris told the hearing the new store was vital to the Oxford Street's future as "it has a smell, a tangible, unmistakable expression of decline".

He added the retailer would "not be made to trade" in the current buildings and that it would not invest further in the site if its plans were refused. He also warned "no other retailer" would take over the site.

Matthew Fraser, on behalf of campaign group SAVE, told the hearing the retailer's "threat" to leave its flagship store "if they don't get their way" was "not the constructive attitude of a retailer committed to the future of Oxford Street".

"The heritage impacts have been considerably underestimated by M&S and are not outweighed by the public benefits of the scheme," Mr Fraser added.

He said the construction of the new building would release nearly 40,000 tonnes of CO2 (40m kg), which would be "the equivalent of driving a typical car 99 million miles, further than the distance to the sun".

"This could be avoided if M&S "seriously and creatively" consider the option of refurbishing the buildings.

"There is no structural or safety reason why they cannot be refurbished", he said.

Mr Harris told the inquiry refurbishing the existing buildings, which date back to 1930, was "undeliverable and unfundable".

M&S has previously said any carbon footprint made by the demolition would eventually be offset by the new, more sustainable building.

The retailer's plans were given permission last November by Westminster City Council, which said the new store would be important to the future of Oxford Street.

The plans were later called in by then Secretary of State Michael Gove.

Barrister Sioned Davies, speaking on behalf of Westminster City Council, which supports the scheme, said any new building would not harm the local heritage.

"The council has had regard to the heritage implications of the development and has found the improvements to the site as a whole, including the delivery of substantial public benefits, outweigh the lesser substantial harm caused by the loss of the orchard house façade".

She added: "The embodied carbon saving would be immaterial".

The inquiry, which is expected to last two weeks, is due to continue on Wednesday.

Follow BBC London on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]