M&s Store Closing Swansea: Oxford Street branch set to close with 92 jobs at risk
M&s Store Closing Swansea has been confirmed by the retailer, which says the Oxford Street department store will be shut because of long-term underperformance and practical issues that would require significant investment. The move matters because it places about 92 jobs at risk and comes amid a national rotation programme reshaping the company’s full-line and food-only estate.
M&s Store Closing Swansea: timing and shop age unclear in the provided context
The timetable for the Oxford Street closure is unclear in the provided context: some statements say the branch will close later this year, while a company letter sets a planned closure for late 2026. Separately, one reference described the building as a 69-year-old store and another framed the decision as closing a flagship site after 100 years; the precise age of the store is unclear in the provided context.
Oxford Street store: causes given for proposed closure
M&S has cited a sustained decline in sales over 10 years and “practical and operational issues requiring significant investment” as the reasons the Oxford Street site is no longer viable as a full-line store. The company’s Head of External Affairs, Adam Hawksbee, explained in a letter to council leader Rob Stewart that the decision forms part of a UK-wide store rotation programme intended to place stores “in the right space to deliver an excellent shopping experience. ”
Rob Stewart and Swansea Council reaction to the announcement
Rob Stewart described the decision as “hugely disappointing” and said it was a “huge shock to the council, as it will to the staff and customers. ” Swansea Council said the news is extremely disappointing for staff and shoppers, noting several years of active engagement to prevent a closure at the location. The council confirmed it will do all it can to help M&S find an alternative full-line store location in Swansea.
Jobs, consultations and local store network
The proposed closure puts about 92 jobs at risk. M&S is consulting with affected staff and is exploring possible redeployment to other locations. The company has pointed to other Swansea-area outlets that will remain available to shoppers: M&S Foodhalls at Fforestfach Retail Park and in Mumbles will stay open, and the nearest full-line department store after closure would be at Parc Trostre in Llanelli.
Gwent and west Wales stores, and recent local closures
M&S stores in Gwent and west Wales are not affected by this latest announcement. In west Wales, the Haverfordwest store at Withybush Retail Park and the Carmarthen town centre branch remain fully operational with no planned changes. The wider region has seen previous M&S changes: a full-line store and food hall in Cwmbran closed in May 2019, and a smaller M&S Food unit inside the WH Smith store in Cwmbran town centre shut in September 2025. The Neath store also closed in 2025 as part of national activity that has already seen nearly 90 M&S stores shut.
Company strategy: store rotation, expansion targets and measurable goals
M&S has identified 500 target locations nationwide for new food stores, with 20 of those sites in Wales. Named towns on a potential list of large-format M&S Food Halls include Abergavenny, Caerphilly, Chepstow, Cwmbran, Monmouth and Penarth. The retailer emphasised that the target list does not mean changes to existing stores in those locations. The store rotation programme sets clear numerical aims: reduce full-line stores from 247 to 180 by 2028, while increasing the food-only estate from around 330 to 420.
What makes this notable is that the closure combines a long-running local sales decline with immediate practical demands for investment, producing both a local employment hit and a wider footprint shift in M&S’s network. The company and council both say they remain committed to keeping the M&S brand in Swansea while the retailer actively looks for a suitable site for a future full-line store.
