(Bloomberg) -- Marks & Spencer Group Plc has won a years-long battle to demolish its flagship store on London’s Oxford Street and replace it with a new development that the retailer argued is crucial to the site’s survival.
Angela Rayner, the Labour government’s secretary of state for housing and communities, formally approved the plans, according to an M&S statement Thursday. Her Conservative predecessor Michael Gove had previously intervened to stop M&S from knocking down the existing Art Deco structure, a decision that was supported by campaigners including the writer Bill Bryson.
However, M&S won a legal challenge against the government earlier this year and Labour, having defeated the Conservatives in July’s general election, has not obstructed the development. The party has promised to reform the UK’s planning system to encourage more building.
Chief Executive Officer Stuart Machin blamed “three unnecessary years of delays, obfuscation and political posturing at its worst, under the previous government” for delaying the project, permission for which was requested in 2021, but added that he was delighted with the outcome.
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