M&S given green light by Angela Rayner to demolish historic Oxford Street store after four year row

Transcript

00:00M&S has been given the all-clear to demolish its 94-year-old flagship store at Marble Arch,

00:05ending a fierce three-year row over the Art Deco building.

00:09The retailer plans to knock down the historic building on Oxford Street

00:12and replace it with a 10-story development,

00:14housing a smaller M&S store, offices, a cafe and a gym.

00:18Orchard House was built in the late 1920s by catering business J. Lyons & Co.

00:23Marks & Spencer's took space in the building on its completion

00:25and in 1967 took it over completely.

00:28The Deputy PM and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner

00:31gave the demolition plan the go-ahead on Thursday.

00:33The hugely controversial proposals were first submitted to Westminster Council

00:37almost four years ago, highlighting the significant employment

00:40and regeneration benefits of the scheme.

00:42M&S have said the new shop would support 2,000 jobs

00:45and would help rejuvenate the UK's main shopping district.

00:49However, campaigners are not happy with the decision.

00:52The plans have been dogged by court cases and opposition

00:54from heritage and sustainability experts for years.

00:57Former Housing Secretary Michael Gove eventually stepped in

01:00and refused the application in July 2023.

01:03Heritage groups argued that the government should prioritise

01:06reusing old buildings and called the plans indefensible.

01:09But M&S has insisted that the existing store is not fit for purpose

01:13and would be impossible to modernise.