Marks and Spencer Group PLC (LSE:MKS) has criticised the government’s decision to hold a public enquiry into the planned demolition of the retailer’s Oxford Street store.
The FTSE 250 wants to knock down its flagship store at London’s Marble Arch and build a more modern building in its place but its plans have run into opposition.
Communities Secretary Michael Gove decided yesterday that Westminster Council cannot grant planning permission until the government has examined the plans.
“We are bewildered and disappointed at Michael Gove's baseless decision to call in the proposed redevelopment of our Marble Arch site,” said Sacha Berendji, director of group property, store development and technology at M&S.
“The secretary of state has blocked the only retail-led regeneration in the whole of Oxford Street in a building which was refused listed status due to its low design quality and, while safe, cannot be modernised through re-fitting as it is three separate buildings containing asbestos," grumbled Berendji.
Berendji went on to suggest that Gove “appears to prefer a proliferation of stores hawking counterfeit goods to a gold-standard retail-led regeneration of the nation's favourite high street”.
Environmental campaigners have opposed the demolition of the art deco building, citing concerns over carbon emissions.
A report by Simon Sturgis, the Greater London Authority’s carbon advisor, claimed nearly 40,000 tonnes of CO2 would be emitted during construction.
Henrietta Billings, the director of SAVE Britain’s Heritage, argued that the building could continue to serve as a landmark on Oxford Street for the next 100 years with a sympathetic refit.