It's almost becoming one of those stories you could copy-paste and re-write time and time again (though we obvs wouldn't do that) – the rise of online shopping, business rates, and staff costs mean [insert store here] is closing [x branches] by [x year].
What it means: There's an undeniable trend hitting all the main stores we're used to seeing on the high street, and now it's M&S's turn. The store is closing a third of its home and clothing branches across the country by 2022.
It's pretty scary news for the 872 employees working there – they'll be offered a transfer to other sites before being made redundant, but even that would mean relocating from their homes. Their union accused the store of 'salami slicing' their comms on the whole thing – they'd said a few years ago they'd close 30 stores, then 60, and now it's 100.
We spoke to campaigners across the UK about what's going on with our high streets and why we should save them here – have a read.
