M&S Simply Food leaves Northampton WHSmiths in Northampton after less than a year

A Marks & Spencer Simply Food outlet has left Northampton town centre's WHSmith after less than a year.

The newsagents on the ground floor of the Grosvenor Centre gave over a corner of its store in August 2020 to stock M&S lunch items.

Now, eight months later, Marks and Spencer has left the unit.

A spokesperson for WHSmith stated the food outlet's period at the newsagents was only "a trial".

The spokesman said: "We can confirm that we have removed the M&S convenience range from our store in Northampton following the recent trial.”

Three of the eight months the outlet spent at WHSmith were under a national lockdown.

It comes after Northampton town centre's own M&S store on Abington Street, which had a large Simply Food supermarket, closed in 2018.

The Grosvenor's WHSmiths relocated to the bottom floor of the shopping centre after leaving a unit that was spread across two floors last year, which is now occupied by River Island.

It comes after the 228-year-old bookseller and stationers confirmed plans to restructure its UK operations and cut up to 1,500 jobs as bosses said its recovery from lockdown has been "slow".