Gleeds to roll out Marks and Spencer Reliance stores in India
(13/04/2010)

Gleeds will be acting as ‘Programme Manager’ for the roll out of new Marks and Spencer Reliance stores in India over the next two to three years. Work has already begun for Gleeds as Project and Cost Manager.

The new stores will be located in shopping malls across the country and will each cover around 20,000 sq ft. As with the UK stores, the Indian branches will offer women’s, men’s and children’s clothing as well as home wares in a country where there is an increasing demand for great quality, good value products. Gleeds are confident that they will be able to generate savings for M&S throughout the construction process and will also ensure that the new stores adhere to a more standardised design concept.

“The relationship between Gleeds and Marks and Spencer began with their first project in the UK 85 years ago and since then we have developed a fantastic understanding of their requirements and procedures.” said Stuart Senior, Managing Partner for Gleeds Nottingham who are responsible for the firms’ work in India. “As a result, Gleeds was the natural fit for their programme in India,” he went on to add. “As well as our initial project and cost management roles, we will also be overseeing the procurement of a suitable supply chain for the development programme” .

Mark Ashman CEO of Marks and Spencer Reliance said, “India is a very exciting opportunity for Marks and Spencer and has a market where there is the potential for us to become a major retail brand.”

Gleeds recently opened a new office in Mumbai which will boost Gleeds’ staff numbers to over 40 people working in India. They are already represented in other cities such as Chennai, and Hyderabad as well as Bangalore, and the new Mumbai operation is as a result of clients like M&S requesting additional levels of locally based support as new projects are agreed.

Richard Steer Senior Partner at Gleeds said, "This news from M&S is really important for us as our expansion in the continent is entirely client driven. We are winning work in the Pharmaceutical, IT and Residential sectors and are working on projects that have values starting at £25m and literally stretching to over £1billion in the case of our work with the Sahara townships project. We would hope to have over 100 people working in India by the end of next year."