Marks & Spencer to reopen 49 cafes for takeaway hot drinks

High street stalwart Marks & Spencer is to reopen 49 of its cafes for takeaway hot drinks across the country from this Thursday.

The 49 sites chosen to reopen span across the UK, and include locations in Belfast, Cramlington and Cheshunt, where cafes sit next to the group’s food-halls.

Social distancing precautions and ‘extra hygiene’ measures will be in place at the reopened cafes and staff will have to wash their hands at least every half an hour.

Easing back in: Marks & Spencer is to reopen 49 of its cafes for takeaway hot drinks across the country from this Thursday

The announcement from M&S comes as cafe chains, such as Pret A Manger and Caffe Nero reopen sites for takeaway customers. 

On the fast-food front, McDonald’s started offering delivery from 15 of its sites from today and will be re-opening 30 drive-throughs from next week.

For this week, McDonald’s restaurants and their car parks remain closed, so customers will have to order using the Uber Eats app.  

Meanwhile, rival Burger King UK will offer delivery or drive-through service from 350 restaurants by 30 June.

M&S said its reopening plan came after a trial at five locations including its High Street Kensington store in London and Maybrook Canterbury store. 

It said the company had prepared ‘rigorous guidance for colleagues and will have extensive signage for customers so they can pick up their coffee safely’.

A string of safety measures have been introduced, including plastic screens at each cafe till.

New normal: Perspex screens will separate staff and customers at M&S cafes

Staff have also been asked to wash their hands every 30 minutes as a minimum, with surfaces sanitised regularly.

Only one staff member will be working behind the hot drinks counter at a time to ensure social distancing, and customers are being encouraged to use contactless card payments.

Hot drinks will be placed in a hatch under a screen to allow customers to pick them up and put on their own lid, M&S said. 

While M&S’s food sales may have been given a boost during lockdown, like other retailers, it is facing an uphill struggle on the clothing and homeware front.

The group’s share price has dropped sharply today and is currently down 4.97 per cent or 4.62p to 88.34p. A year ago, the share price stood at around the 215.90p mark. 

M&S is launching its tie-up with online supermarket Ocado in September, which could help give its food arm a further boost. In the last year, food constituted nearly 60 per cent of M&S’s revenue and 48 per cent of its profits.