Applegreen, one of Ireland’s largest roadside hospitality brands, will open 20 new M&S Food stores this year, as part of a major expansion of its successful partnership with Marks & Spencer.

Applegreen will make a multi-million-euro investment in the further roll out of the M&S Food partnership this year, as each of the 20 new “shop-in-shop” locations will undergo a bespoke upgrade to introduce the M&S brand.

The expansion will mean that by year-end, Applegreen will be operating 41 M&S Food stores across the island of Ireland, with plans to further expand the network to 60 outlets in the medium term.

Each new outlet will feature a range of more than 400 high quality M&S Food products, which will complement the existing Applegreen business and offer customers additional choice and convenience.

The first of the new M&S Food at Applegreen outlets opened in Ennis earlier this month at Applegreen’s Limerick Road location.

“Our partnership with M&S has been working really well over the past two years, and we’re delighted to be bringing M&S Food at Applegreen to 20 additional locations this year,” said Mark Ryan, Head of M&S at Applegreen.

“The expansion of our M&S Food partnership is one of the key elements of our growth plans in the Irish market, alongside further investment in our Braeburn Coffee brand, and significant investment in new and upgraded sites. We have a hugely dedicated Applegreen team working on our plans to deliver another 20 new M&S stores this and we also have significant support from our partners in M&S.”

The expansion will see Applegreen almost double its existing network of M&S Food stores. All of the new M&S at Applegreen outlets will also offer Click & Collect for M&S Clothing and selected Home product range, providing customers with the option of ordering quality clothing, home and beauty essentials online at www.marksandspencer.com/ie, and collecting their purchases at their local Applegreen.

“This expansion with Applegreen is terrific news for M&S customers across Ireland,” said Eddie Murphy, Country Director for M&S in Ireland and Northern Ireland said:

“We're bringing our trusted quality and delicious M&S Food range to even more locations, offering great value and convenience as part of this growing partnership with Applegreen. We’re particularly excited to be extending our Click & Collect service to these new stores, making it even easier for customers to access our clothing and home ranges.”

As part of the exclusive partnership agreement, each M&S Food at Applegreen outlet carries an extensive range of M&S products, including ready meal options for lunch and dinner, quality sandwiches, fresh fruit and salads, and fresh flowers. Popular favourites such as Percy Pig sweets, M&S cookies, and Colin the Caterpillar cakes are also available in-store.

Applegreen’s exclusive partnership with M&S Food, which now comprises 22 stores, complements Applegreen’s leading store proposition in the Irish market and brings the M&S Food range to a much wider customer base.

Applegreen is one of Ireland’s leading retail hospitality brands. It opened its first service station in Ballyfermot in Dublin 1992 and now operates just over 500 locations at sites in Ireland, the UK and the United States, employing a total of 16,000 people.

Applegreen recently unveiled plans to invest €1 billion over the next five years to expand its business in Ireland, the UK, and the United States. It has about 200 locations in Ireland, while in the UK, its Welcome Break business operates 59 sites, including 35 motorway service areas, and 31 hotels.

The investment plans will see a significant expansion of the Applegreen business in Ireland, the UK and the US, as the company upgrades and revamps its existing locations, and develops new sites in each of its markets. It is also planning a major €85 million investment to further expand its EV charging networks.