1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Newcastle
Region
Europe
Short description of the intervention
Marks & Spencer transformed its Newcastle city centre store on Northumberland Street into one of the most eco-friendly in the north-east. (1) The striking development to the store includes various eco-features including the installation of a green living wall to improve the insulation of the building encourage biodiversity and improve customer experience (2, 3). The project also fits into Newcastle City Council's intention to transform Northumberland Street, and its surrounding area, into a European-leading retail destination (9)
Address

77-87 Northumberland St,
Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7AS, UK
Newcastle
NE1 7AS
United Kingdom

Location
Point location, which indicates where the NBS takes place
Total area
167.00m²
NBS area
158.00m²
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Building
Website of the intervention
https://pressat.co.uk/releases/marks-spencer-newcastle-to-be-transformed-into-e…
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2015
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2015
End date of the intervention
2015
Present stage of the intervention
Completed
Please specify "other" stage of the intervention
The plans for the M&S in Newcastle are a part of Marks and Spencer's way of achieving their Plan A (Marks & Spencer’s ambitious sustainability program) 2020 energy efficiency targets. Plan A was launched in 2007 with strategic and far-reaching goals (including 100 commitments under five pillars; climate change, waste, sustainable raw materials, fair partnership and health). (Ref. 4, 5)
Goals of the intervention
1. Transformation Mark Spencers Northumberland Street store in Newcastle into one of the most eco-friendly and visually impressive one in the north east with the implementation of the following improvements:
- 167 square metres green wall
- a heat reclaim system that will improve energy efficiency and customer comfort
- intelligent door sensors and LED fridge lighting to improve M&S Newcastle's energy efficiency by 20% (1)
2. Achievement of Mark & Spencer's ‘Plan A’ 2020 energy efficiency targets
The objective of the green wall is to:
- Improve customer experience
- provide habitat for wildlife (1)
Quantitative targets
- Create a visual 167 square metre green wall, constructed from nearly 16,000 individual plants. (1)
Monitoring indicators defined
Unknown.
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Green space creation and/or management
Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
Economic development: service sectors
Implementation activities
The installation is made up of 16,000 individual plants including species such as sea pink, thyme, cranesbill, wood rush, hebe and ferns all naturally irrigated by rainwater (1)
Also, to celebrate the completion of the wall the retailer donated plants to a number of local primary schools to spread the environmental benefits across the city (1, 3)
Type of NBS project
Creation of new green areas
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Nature on buildings (external)
Green walls or facades
Type of Green Wall
Hydroponic living wall (soil-less)
Vegetation Type
Other
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Habitat and supporting services
Habitats for species
Maintenance of genetic diversity
Cultural services
Aesthetic appreciation
Scale
Spatial scale
Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Local government/Municipality
Private sector/Corporate/Company
Citizens or community groups
Please specify other local relevant strategy
Municipal investment scheme
Governance
Governance arrangements
Led by non-government actors
Non-government actors
Private sector/Corporate/Business
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
Marks & Spencer announced plans to transform its Northumberland Street store (in Newcastle) into one of the most eco-friendly and visually impressive in the north east in 2015 (2). Based on the request, ANS (Global) designed and installed the green wall through the The ANS Living Wall System (6).
Key actors - initiating organization
Private sector/corporate actor/company
Land owners
Private sector or company
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Private sector/corporate actor/company
Citizens or community group
Land owners
Private sector or company
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Unknown
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
Unknown
Please specify the "Regional Directive/Strategy"
M&S Plan A 2020 (which launched in 2007) started "whilst the health of the economy was waxed" and one of the goals of Plan A is to become the world's most sustainable major retailer. Plan A was integrated into the management process. (Ref. 7, 8)
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Unknown
Please specify the national regulations/strategy/plan
See above.
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Unknown
Please specify the "local regulation/strategy/plan"
See above.
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
Mark & Spencer investing in their Northumberland Street store is in line with Newcastle City Council's intention to invite local businesses to transform Northumberland Street, and its surrounding area, into a European-leading retail destination in partnership with city centre business improvement agent NE1 Ltd (2, 9).

The eco-friendly transformation of Marks & Spencer's Northumberland Street store fits into the company's Plan A, its strategic and far-reaching plan aiming to embed sustainability across all operational functions within five years. Plan A contains 100 commitments under 5 pillars in the eco and ethical programme that tackles both today's and tomorrow's sustainable retail challenges (2,5)
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify the general plan with GI/NBS section
This is part of Newcastle City Council's programme of renewal and reinvention, Re-newcastle investment, focused on reshaping and renewing the city, creating lasting benefits for Newcastle's economy (2, 9).
If there is a relevant strategy or plan, please specify the theme / type of the plan.
Other
Please specify other vegetation type
Sea Pink, Thyme, Cranesbill, Wood Rush, Hebe, Ferns and Hart's Tongue (1)
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
No
Co-finance for NBS
No
Co-financing governance arrangements
Unknown
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Unknown
Financing
Total cost
More than €4,000,000
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
Unknown
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
The project is part of Marks and Spencer's Plan A (goals/targets) which was launched in 2007 with (then) around 227 million EUR (£200 million) (5) Note: the amount invested in the specific project is unknown.
Source(s) of funding
Corporate investment
Type of fund(s) used
Other
Please specify other type of fund used
corporate budget
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Business models
Green densification model
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Private for-profit actor (e.g. firm, insurer)
Type of innovation
Technological
Product innovation
Please specify technological innovation
Creation of a Green Wall. (Ref. 1)
Novelty level of the innovation
The innovation is copied/derived from previous initiative(s) without substantial adaptation
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
M&S has previously installed living walls on their stores (also with partners ANS Global using 'ANSystem living wall'), e.g. in 2011. (Ref. 10)
Replicability/Transferability
Ambiguous (e.g. multiple interpretations)
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
A new Plan A (2025 instead of 2020) was launched in 2017 focusing on sustainability (including environmental benefits). (Ref. 11)
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Water management and blue areas
Improved stormwater management
Green space and habitat
Promotion of naturalistic styles of landscape design for urban development
Increased green space area
Increased number of species present
Enhanced support of pollination
Description of environmental benefits
Without publicly available impact assessment of the NBS, only expected benefits can be listed here:
- The green wall is irrigated by the rainwater captured on the roof by the rainwater harvesting system, thus reducing the tap water usage (2)
- With the installation of the 167 sqm green wall, the green space and cover in the city centre's main shopping street has increased (2)
- Green wall accommodates various plant species such as Sea Pink, Thyme, Cranesbill, Wood Rush, Hebe, Ferns and Hart's Tongue, increasing the diversity of flora in the city centre (2)
- The green wall is expected to provide habitat and food supply for birds and insects such as butterflies and bees (2)
Economic impacts
Unknown
Description of economic benefits
Unknown
Social and cultural impacts
Cultural heritage and sense of place
Increased appreciation for natural spaces
Description of social and cultural benefits
Without publicly available impact assessment of the NBS, only expected benefits can be listed here:
- Improved customer experience through the impressive visual the lush green wall provides (2)
Type of reported impacts
Expected impacts
Indicators
Unknown
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Environmental quality
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
No information available
Please specify other method used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
There is no publicly available data regarding the impact assessment of the green wall of the Marks @ Spencer's store on Northumberland Street in Newcastle per se, however, in the 2020 Plan A Report outlines the overall achievements of M&S' sustainability aspirations focusing on social, environmental and ethical matters (13)
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
Unknown as of October 2020
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
No evidence in public records
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Unknown
Where can this data be accessed? Please include a link to a report or web-page.
https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/documents/reports-results-and-publication…
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
The Marks and Spencer's Property Biodiversity Guide which state:
"An SBAP addresses biodiversity on a particular site and includes actions relating to the needs of specific habitats and species.
An SBAP should be informed by the Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP)." ('M&S SBAP requirements').
(Ref. 12)
Link to the output of assessments
https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/documents/plan-a-our-approach/mands-prope…
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No evidence in public records
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Web links relevant to the intervention
Ref. 1
Ref. 2
Ref. 3
Ref. 4
Ref. 5
Ref. 6
Ref. 7
Ref. 8
Ref. 9
Ref. 10
Ref. 11
Ref. 12
List of references
1. FridgeHub. (n.d.). M&S to give it's Toon Store a Green makeover. UK News. Website unavailable
2. Pressat Wire. (2015). Marks & Spencer Newcastle to Be Transformed Into Eco-Store. Accessed on October 25, 2020, https://pressat.co.uk/releases/marks-spencer-newcastle-to-be-transformed-into-eco-store-11b6b6e34bd2fc63f62a55702facc97e/
3. NBS. (2015). Green wall success means Newcastle’s really growing places. Accessed on October 25, 2020, https://www.thenbs.com/knowledge/green-wall-success-means-newcastles-really-growing-places
4. Acre. (2015). This isn't just a store, it's an M&S eco-store. Website not available
5. Canadian Groceries. (2016). Marks & Spencer makes green its Plan A. Canadian Grocer. Accessed on October 25, 2020, https://www.canadiangrocer.com/kruger-sustainability/marks-spencer-makes-green-its-plan-a-62276
6. ANS Global. (n.d.). Supporting Marks and Spencer with a living wall installation. News. Accessed on October 26, 2020, https://www.ansgroupglobal.com/news/supporting-marks-and-spencer-living-wall-installation
7. Marks & Spencer. (n.d.). Plan A 2020. Blog. Marks & Spencer. Accessed on October 25, 2020, Website not available
8. Marks & Spencer. (n.d.). Delivering Plan A. Marks & Spencer. Accessed on October 25, 2020, https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/sustainability/delivering-plan-a
9. Bdaily News. (2016). Partnership invites Newcastle businesses to be part of city centre growth plans. Accessed on October 25, 2020, https://bdaily.co.uk/articles/2016/08/26/partnership-invites-newcastle-businesses-to-be-part-of-city-centre-growth-plans
10. Scotscape. (2011). Scotscape installs living wall and green roof for flagship M&S store. Website not available
11. Marks & Spencer. (2017). M&S launches Plan A 2025 - an ambitious costomer focused sustainability plan. Accessed on October 25, 2020, https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/media/press-releases/2017/plan-a-2025
12. Marks & Spencer Property. (2015). Property biodiversity guide. Marks & Spencer. Accessed on October 25, 2020, https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/documents/plan-a-our-approach/mands-property-biodiversity-guide-january2015.pdf
13. Marks & Spencer. (2020). 2020 Plan A Report. Accessed on Octoner 25, 2020, https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/documents/reports-results-and-publications/plan-a-reports/2020/plan-a-report-2020.pdf
Comments and notes
Additional insights
M&S donated 100 of the same plants used in the green wall to three local primary schools. (Ref. 6)
Pictures of the NBS
/sites/default/files/nbs/images/ms_green_wall_david_kenny_2015.jpg
Public Images
Marks & Spencer green wall
Source: https://www.ansgroupglobal.com/news/supporting-marks-and-spencer-living-wall-installation