Marks & Spencer has officially confirmed plans to relocate from Erneside Shopping Centre to the expanding Lakelands Retail Park in Enniskillen. The announcement has stirred both curiosity and concern locally — with many wondering what this means for the future of retail in the area.
What’s Happening?
The retail giant’s planned move will see it vacate its long-standing Erneside Shopping Centre unit in favour of a purpose-built store at Lakelands Retail Park. Planning permission is still pending, so it’s unlikely the move will happen before 2026. While this isn’t an overnight change, it marks a significant shift in Enniskillen’s retail landscape. M&S has confirmed that the new store will allow for an expanded product range and may even bring new services, such as home delivery, that weren’t previously possible at Erneside.
Our Opinion
Marks and Spencer moving from Erneside isn’t a big deal if we are honest. It’s been a poor anchor store and we wouldn’t expect the move to the new retail park to be a huge draw in itself.
It doesn’t sound like the move will happen this year, as planning permission is still to be approved, so it will most likely be sometime next year. But this move does open up ongoing questions around Erneside.
M&S is behind Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, and Lidl in Northern Ireland, but it must feel that it is doing well in Enniskillen to move to a brand new building and expand its range — which is a good thing for the town. With the move, they will probably roll out home deliveries, which they can’t do at Erneside, so you would think, that might create new jobs — which again, can only be a good thing for the town as a whole.
Only time will tell if and when this move actually happens. Planning permission is yet to be approved and they still have an active lease with Erneside, but that shouldn’t be a problem because what normally happens is they just buy themselves out of the remaining lease — but let’s see what happens in the coming months.
What Happens Next?
With M&S planning to relocate and invest in a larger, more modern store, Lakelands Retail Park continues to grow in retail relevance. At the same time, questions loom over Erneside and its ability to attract or retain anchor tenants in the future.
Will this move breathe new life into Enniskillen’s retail scene — or highlight a deeper issue with the town centre’s retail offering?
Note:
This article reflects current public information that we have at the time of publishing. No claims or false information have been made or provided by us.
