Sunderland Marks and Spencer building set to remain empty until 2027 once closure goes ahead

Sunderland's Marks and Spencer store looks set to sit empty for at least three years, if its planned closure goes ahead.

The retail giant's proposed closure of the High Street West branch was met with widespread dismay when M&S made the announcement on January 17, 2024.

Following questions from the Echo, Sunderland City Council has confirmed it owns the city's Marks & Spencer building, and some information about its immediate future.

Council chiefs have ambitious plans for the area. But that, as things stand, the local authority will not be able to do anything with the empty M&S premises until 2027, due to lease agreements.

Marks and Spencer plans to close the High Street West shop will close when a new new 47,000 sq ft store opens next to the Galleries shopping centre in Washington.

This is expected to happen in the spring, based on a previous statement by the retailer.

The council says M&S has the lease on the High Street West store up to March 2027, until which time the company remains 'wholly responsible for the building'.

Peter McIntyre, the council’s executive director of city development, has said the council had been “in conversation” with M&S for the last five years about the shop.

However, no plans for the premises have been revealed by any party for the coming years.

A council spokesperson said: "The M&S lease on the premises runs until the end of March 2027 and they remain wholly responsible for the building until that date.

"The council continues to have good commercial dialogue with the company to agree a way forward, but cannot make immediate plans for the building on this basis.

"In the longer term, the ambition is to create a Central Business District, which will deliver more high-quality office accommodation and new retail opportunities on High Street West to support the 10k jobs Riverside Sunderland will attract to the heart of the city."

M&S regional manager Philip Barker-Thomson says the outlet is a victim of “changing shopping habits”.

But it has not been said that the store was making a loss.

The company says it will redeploy workers "where possible".

The impending closure of the shop has led to a political row. Opposition Conservative and Lib Dem councillors have slammed the Labour Council.

Sunderland's Conservative leader, Cllr Antony Mullen, says the closure "represent(s) a failure on the part of the council to get to grips with the challenges posed by online retail and out-of-town retail parks."

Lib Dem leader Cllr Paul Edgeworth wants the council "to offer incentives for Marks and Spencer to change its decision.”

But council leader Cllr Graham Miller, said: "The notion that we have it in our gift to dictate the commercial decisions of national brands like M&S shows just how far removed both of these parties are from reality."