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Marks and Spencer will knock down its Art Deco flagship store on London’s Oxford Street after it received approval from UK housing secretary and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner.
The retailer said it had secured the hard-fought approval more than three years after it first submitted the application to redevelop the Marble Arch store.
M&S chief executive Stuart Machin said on Thursday he was delighted with the outcome after “unnecessary years of delays, obfuscation and political posturing at its worst, under the previous government”.
Rayner’s decision to reverse the stance of her Conservative predecessor, Michael Gove, on one of the UK’s most high-profile planning controversies is a signal that she plans to use her powers to clear planning barriers and favour development.
Claire Fallows, planning partner at law firm Charles Russell Speechlys, said: “The decision has always been more about political messaging . . . A green light from Rayner is a strong political move.”
This is a developing story