Marks & Spencer will make new stores 'green'

Marks & Spencer has announced that all of its new stores

will now have 'green' clauses as standard as it works with retail landlords to better manage the environmental performance of its buildings.

In addition, Marks & Spencer has reached agreement with members of the Better Building Partnership, a collaboration of major retail landlords looking to improve the sustainability of existing commercial building stock, to ‘retro fit’ green clauses to the leases of existing M&S stores – including across Brent Cross, London, Meadowhall in Sheffield, and Silverburn in Glasgow.

The move is part of a Plan A, Marks & Spencer’ eco and ethical programme, commitment to reduce energy use in M&S stores, offices and warehouses by 35 percent by 2015. Clem Constantine, director of property at Marks & Spencer, said: "Unfortunately, big carbon reductions from the UK’s building stock cannot come only from new stores. 70 percent of current commercial buildings will still exist in 2050, so if we are genuinely going to tackle the problem we have to invest in eco solutions for existing buildings.

"Currently it can be difficult for landlords and tenants to work together when it comes to a building’s environmental performance, particularly for older leases. There’s often no real structure for measurement, incentives or sharing of goals. Green leasing changes this situation as it provides the framework within which both can work together. And both will benefit, a store with a reduced environmental impact and lower costs is more marketable for landlords and more cost effective for tenants to occupy – a genuine win-win."