Nuneaton MP Marcus Jones has recently met with senior representatives of Marks and Spencer to present a petition on behalf of Nuneaton’s residents who wanted M&S to stay open in the town, following their announcement that they were to close the store.

Marcus organised the petition which attracted 3,200 signatures, urging M&S to keep the store open. Despite intensive lobbying by the Borough Council and the MP, the company recently confirmed its decision to close following consultation with employees.

During a recent meeting with M&S, Marcus was told that the store had been subject to ‘nine years of continuous decline’, despite the chain recently announcing a 17% rise in profits to £350m in the first half of the year. Its new boss has also made clear his ambition to open new M&S stores abroad.

Commenting on the petition and the closure, Marcus Jones said: “Firstly I would like to thank all those people who signed the petition and who contacted me expressing their concern about the closure. I have always shared that concern and have done what I can in an effort to persuade Marks and Spencer to change its mind. I know the Borough Council also did what it could; unfortunately our pleas fell on deaf ears. I have reached the impression that this type of small high street of store model may not be what M&S see as their future.

“It is particularly disappointing that M&S appears, as a company, not to be too keen to save stores in the UK when it has announced ambitions to open new stores abroad. Their new Chief Executive, Marc Bolland, has said that he wants 95% of the public to have access to an M&S store within 30 minutes. Closing down the Nuneaton store makes that virtually impossible to achieve for many local customers who use public transport.

“An additional disappointment has been the announcement of the company’s profits, up 17%. It is a real kick in the teeth for the town who had offered M&S a number of options to remain open here.”