Future of Swindon's M&S cafe confirmed amid closure plan

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The future of a popular Swindon Marks and Spencer coffee shop has been confirmed, after several closures nationally.

A number of Marks and Spencer cafes across the UK are already closed or are due to close shortly – 14 in total.

The M&S cafe in Congleton, Cheshire, has become the latest to announce they are shutting, with plans for the cafe space to repurposed.

Other locations include Crawley in West Sussex, Bishop Aukland, Dunblane in Stirling, Scotland, and Whitstable in Kent.

There are four M&S stores in Swindon, with only the Orbital Centre housing a coffee shop.

It only opened in August 2025, boasting almost twice as much seating as the old cafe that was in its place, and offering a modern design and new menu.

On February 24, M&S confirmed with the Adver that the Orbital coffee shop will not be affected by the closures – its future looks safe.

On the latest cafe closure in Congleton, M&S regional manager Katie Whelan said: "We know many of our customers want to be able to shop a wider range of M&S Food.

"That's why, after reviewing our Congleton store, we are re-purposing the café space in-store to provide more product choice and improve the shopping experience.

“We understand this will be disappointing news for some of our customers; however, our teams will continue working hard to serve them in-store."

Despite these closures, M&S is looking at hundreds of locations for potential store openings.

All stores would be deigned in the new format, with an extended range of M&S Food, larger car parks for more family shoppers, and wider aisles for bigger shopping trolleys.

The full list of M&S cafes that have closed or are set to close is as follows:

  • Crawley, West Sussex
  • Dunblane, Stirling, Scotland
  • Congleton, Cheshire
  • Stone, Staffordshire
  • Anlaby Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
  • Hull Kingswood, East Riding of Yorkshire
  • Martlesham Heath, Ipswich
  • Bidston Moss
  • Bishop Auckland
  • South Aylesford, Kent
  • Strood Retail Park, Kent
  • Whitstable, Kent
  • Maybrook Canterbury, Kent
  • Sittingbourne Retail Park

Are you a fan of the M&S cafe in Swindon? Would you be sad to see it go? Let us know in the comments.

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