M&S Alton Simply Food to Close in January 2027

Marks and Spencer plans to close its Simply Food store on Alton High Street in January 2027. East Hampshire District Council said the retailer announced the decision on Tuesday 13 October.

The council’s statement is on its own news page. It gives January 2027 as the closing month but no exact date.

The store is at 77 to 85 High Street, GU34 1LG. That is the address on the Food Standards Agency register, where it holds a top food hygiene rating of 5 from March 2026.

What the council and the MP said

Cllr Robert Mocatta is the council’s portfolio holder for regeneration and prosperity. He called it “clearly disappointing news for Alton”.

“M&S has been a familiar presence on the High Street for many years, and we know residents and visitors will be sorry to see it go,” he said.

He said the council would follow up with M&S “to understand the implications of the decision and the reasons behind it”. As the local planning authority, it would work with the landlord, the town council, other councils and the MP “to find the best possible solution for the site in the future”.

Damian Hinds, MP for East Hampshire, published a statement dated Monday 12 October. He said he had been told that day that the store was “due to close early next year”.

“M&S has played an important role as an anchor store at the end of Alton High Street, so its closure will be a real blow to the town centre,” he said.

He said he had asked M&S for a meeting to understand the reasons for the decision. He is also speaking to the district council about how the site might be reused. “My thoughts are particularly with the staff who work there,” he added.

What has not been published

• The last trading day. The council says January 2027; the MP says early next year.
• How many people work there, and whether staff will be offered jobs at other stores.
• Why the store is closing. Neither statement gives M&S’s reason. The council pointed to “the increasing cost of doing business combined with caution among consumers” across retail nationally.
• What happens to the building. No planning application or plan for the site has been published.

We will update this page when M&S or the council confirms a closing date.

The Post Office question

Mr Hinds’s statement says the news comes “so soon after the news about TJ Jones and the Post Office”. The chain is TG Jones, which runs Alton Post Office from its store in Westbrook Walk.

His last published update on that, on 8 July, said TG Jones was going through a court-approved restructuring that “could affect a number of its stores”. At that point, he said, it was “still not known” whether Alton’s Post Office would be affected.

The Post Office’s own branch finder still listed the Alton branch at Unit 6-7 Westbrook Walk on 18 October. It shows normal opening hours: 9am to 5.30pm on weekdays, with an hour’s closure from 12.30pm, and 9am to 5.30pm on Saturdays.

What it means for you

• The Alton store stays open for now. Nothing published gives a date earlier than January 2027.
• Petersfield’s M&S is not named. The Simply Food store at 21 to 25 High Street, Petersfield, about 12 miles south of Alton, does not appear in either statement. It is the only other M&S in East Hampshire on the food hygiene register.
• If you work there, the MP’s office says he is pressing M&S for a meeting. His contact details are on his website.
• For the site’s future, any change of use or redevelopment would need the district council as planning authority. Its wider plans for the district’s towns are in the new Local Plan timetable.