Overview
Acquisitions Manager – London –
Everyone is welcome at M&S. No exceptions. It’s your background, abilities and differences that make you, uniquely you. And when you’re part of M&S, that individuality has the potential to make waves.
Summary
The Acquisition Manager plays a pivotal role in delivering M&S’s property transformation by identifying, securing, and progressing new sites that strengthen the store estate and support long term growth. This role blends commercial acumen, market insight, and negotiation expertise to build a high quality pipeline of Foodhalls, full line stores, and strategic relocations. You will be accountable for driving deals from concept to completion, ensuring each acquisition aligns with M&S’s customer strategy, financial targets, and brand ambitions.
This role offers a mix of office and field-based working, with time divided between our Waterside Support Centre and travel across the business as required
All the details
What You Will Do
- Build and maintain a strong pipeline of new store opportunities, using catchment analysis, competitor activity, demographic trends and market insights to identify high potential locations aligned to M&S’s long term estate strategy.
- Undertake detailed site appraisals covering access, visibility, planning considerations, lease terms and commercial viability to assess suitability for new stores.
- Develop robust business cases and financial appraisals, ensuring opportunities meet ROI, profitability and payback requirements before presenting recommendations and risk assessments to senior stakeholders.
- Lead negotiations with landlords, developers, agents and local authorities, securing optimal commercial terms and managing deals through heads of terms, legal processes, due diligence, exchange and completion.
- Structure property transactions to support long term operational flexibility, cost efficiency and sustainable business performance.
- Partner with Construction, Format, Finance and Store Operations teams to deliver new sites on time and within budget, supporting planning applications, stakeholder approvals and community engagement activities.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with agents, developers, landlords and local authorities, representing M&S across industry events, planning forums and regional property networks to strengthen the company’s market position.
Who You Will Be
•Proven track record in retail, leisure, or mixed use acquisitions within the UK property market. •Strong negotiation skills with experience securing complex deals. •Excellent understanding of planning, leasing structures, development processes, and property law fundamentals. •Ability to interpret financial models, commercial appraisals, and investment metrics. •Confident communicator able to influence at all levels.
Desirable •Experience working within a multi site national retailer. •Knowledge of food retail, convenience formats, or large format store development.
What’s in it for you
Being a part of M&S is exactly that – playing your part to bring the magic of M&S to our customers every day. We’re an inclusive, dynamic, exciting, and ever‑evolving business built on doing the right thing and bringing exceptional quality, value and service to every customer, whenever, wherever and however they want to shop with us.
Here are some of the benefits we offer that make working for M&S just that little bit more special…
- 20% colleague discount across all M&S products and many of our third‑party brands for you and a member of your household.
- Competitive holiday entitlement with the potential to buy extra holiday days.
- Discretionary bonus schemes awarded based on how you achieve your personal objectives and our performance as a business.
- A generous Defined Contribution Pension Scheme and Life Assurance.
- A dedicated welcome to our teams with a tailored induction and a wide range of training programmes to develop your skills.
- Amazing perks and discounts via our M&S Choices portal to maximise your financial and personal wellbeing.
- Industry‑leading parental, adoption and neonatal policies, providing support and flexibility for your family.
- Access to a fantastic range of wellbeing support for all colleagues, including our 24/7 Virtual GP and PAM Assist for you and your family.
- A charity volunteer day to support a cause you’re passionate about through a dedicated day away from work.
Everyone’s welcome
We are ambitious about the future of retail. We’re disrupting, innovating and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We’re transforming how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. Marks & Spencer strives to be an inclusive organisation, trusted and admired by our colleagues, customers and suppliers. Join us and make change happen.
We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and work together to win together. If you feel you’d benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please don’t hesitate to let us know when completing your application. This information will be picked up by our team, so we can try and put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.
IMPORTANT: Before applying for this role, please make sure you have the right to work in the country where the role is based. Unless it clearly stipulates within in the job advert above that the hiring company is looking to or able to sponsor applicants it is deemed that the hiring employer will only consider applications from those able to comply with and work in the country where the role is based.
