Marks and Spencer (M&S) has opened its largest ever foodhall, part of its ongoing investment into larger and more modern stores.

The retail and supermarket brand’s latest store covers 22,000 square feet and sits on the site of a former Homebase in the Wharf Retail Park in Surrey. The company said that this store showcases the next generation of M&S Food stores, with a layout that makes shopping easier, and a wider selection of products and counters.

The store includes wider fresh produce areas, multi-temperature zones in herbs, organic and fruit, a larger in-store bakery, an enhanced cheese barge, a dedicated chicken shop, a Mai Sushi concession, a rotisserie chicken counter, a new kitchen shop with family kitchen essentials and an upgraded beers, wines and spirits shop-in-shop.

In addition, it offers both the entire M&S Food range and its whole value line, which now contains 175 products benchmarked against competitor pricing. These will be available throughout the store’s “new and upgraded” areas including open bakery and market counters, a floral and horticultural section and a full range of frozen fruit.

This opening is part of a wider investment by the retailer into its store estate in the hopes of doubling the size of its food business and luring customers away from competitors for their weekly shop. In June, the company announced a doubling of its frozen range in order to attract more families for big shops after beginning work on a £340 million food distribution centre in May.

Alex Freudmann, managing director of M&S Food, said: “We’re doubling our Food business with investment where family customers are asking for it most: bigger, better stores and more trusted value on the products families buy every week.

“Godalming is our biggest ever standalone Food store and an example of the kind of modern, full-range Foodhall we’re investing in as we double the size of the business. It brings together the full M&S Food range, more space for the weekly shop and the latest store design so customers can get everything they need in one trip, without compromising on the M&S quality they expect.”

The company is investing in its non-food offerings, too. Earlier in the week, M&S reopened its flagship store on Oxford Street, London, after a year of modernisation, saying it would serve as a testing ground for future refreshes.

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