M&S tells LincsOnline it has no plans for a food store at the proposed South Holland Retail Park in Spalding

A well-known food store will not be making a much longed for return to Spalding after ruling itself out of major plans for a new town retail park.

M&S Foodhall says it will not be the ‘premium-branded’ supermarket which is promised as part of the new South Holland Retail Park development, on land off Holbeach Road.

Marshall CDP and Rothstone Estates unveiled proposals to create 190 new jobs by building a supermarket and Costa Coffee drive thru on the land to the south east of the busy A16/A151 McDonald’s roundabout.

Developers said they are in detailed discussions with a ‘leading British retailer, which is looking to bring its high-quality supermarket food offer to Spalding’.

Speculation had been rife that it was M&S after the Rothstone website initially included pictures of the firm’s logo on the images of the new shop.

The picture has since been removed from the website and the M&S logo did not feature in the information leaflet that had been distributed around homes in Spalding last week.

Shoppers have been crying out for M&S Foodhall to return to Spalding after it shut the Holland Market store (now Pets at Home) in 2021.

A spokesman for M&S said: “As part of our store rotation programme, we are always looking at potential new sites, including in Spalding, however we have no plans for this site.”

The land opposite McDonalds was sold last year for the more than a million pounds. Proposals for the site include a 21,582 sq ft premium-branded food store and a third Costa Coffee outlet for the town.

A total of 165 car parking spaces, which includes an ultrafast electric vehicle (EV) charging hub, will be created in the food store car park.

Mark Rothery, of Rothstone Estates, said that a planning application for the retail park will be submitted shortly but is encouraging people to take part in the ongoing consultation.

He said: “This is a carefully considered proposal which would bring new food retail competition and choice to Spalding, alongside a significant number of new jobs.

“We are in detailed discussions with a household brand which has identified Spalding as an attractive location for their well-regarded retail offer. Costa Coffee has already committed to a new outlet on this site.

“This would be a high-quality, sustainable development which could deliver a range of lasting community benefits.”

“A planning application will be submitted to South Holland District Council in the coming weeks, but before we do that we are consulting the local community on our proposals. We would encourage local people to give us their thoughts by responding to the leaflet or online.”

The plans come while an application for the south east corner of the A16/A151 roundabout are awaiting a decision — and these could bring new Starbucks and Burger King outlets to the area.

Leader of South Holland District Council, Coun Nick Worth, says he is looking forward to seeing the planning application.