Marks & Spencer cafes to reopen for takeaway

Reopenings come after a trial at five locations

Olivia Petter
Thursday 14 May 2020 09:48 BST
Comments

Marks & Spencer has announced it will reopen some of its cafes in the UK from Thursday 14 May.

The supermarket chain closed all of its cafes on 18 March, which was five days before Boris Johnson imposed a national lockdown.

Among the locations where cafes will reopen are Bluewater, Brent Cross, Beverley, Dunblane, Canary Wharf and Pontarddulais.

The news comes after M&S conducted a trial run by reopening just five of its cafes, including ones at High Street Kensington and Maybrook Canterbury.

The company has assured customers that strict health and safety measures will be in place, such as perspex screens at tills, in order to ensure that its staff and shoppers can maintain social distancing.

It said the cafes have issued "rigorous guidance for colleagues and will have extensive signage for customers so they can pick up their coffee safely".

The opening of M&S cafes comes after several cafes and high street chains have also reopened for takeaway and delivery, including Pret a Manger and Caffe Nero.

Additionally, several fast-food chains have reopened for delivery and drive-thru, such as McDonald's and Burger King.

On Wednesday, McDonald's reopened 15 locations for delivery via UberEats.

But the service proved so popular that many customers reported being unable to order their food, with some claiming that the UberEats app had "crashed".

A spokesperson for McDonald’s said that the restaurants were experiencing a surge in demand.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in