M&S and Sephora Plan 100 UK Beauty Shop-in-Shops

Marks & Spencer and Sephora plan to open Sephora at M&S beauty spaces in selected UK stores from spring 2027, with a wider range on M&S.com. The companies have set out a 100-location ambition across high streets and retail parks, but have not yet named the first stores or the brands that will be stocked.

The agreement, announced on 29 September, puts a shop-in-shop format at the centre of M&S's effort to rebuild its Fashion, Home and Beauty business. For Sephora, it offers a way to reach more UK customers without relying only on its own stores and online channels. The announcement gave no date for completing the 100-location plan.

A different route to more high streets

Sephora has expanded in the UK through destination stores, smaller boutiques and digital channels. The M&S partnership adds another format: curated beauty spaces inside an existing retailer's estate. It is a change in distribution, not a claim that 100 standalone Sephora stores are opening.

Catherine Spindler, Sephora's President of Europe and the Middle East, described the arrangement in the companies' announcement as a model that complements its existing formats. M&S will provide the stores and digital platform; Sephora will bring its beauty expertise, brand relationships and discovery-led approach. The commercial terms were not disclosed.

John Lyttle, Managing Director of Fashion, Home and Beauty at M&S, positioned the partnership as part of the division's transformation. M&S said it would also continue investing in its own-label beauty categories, rather than replace them with the new offer.

The planned spaces could put specialist beauty advice in places where customers already visit M&S for food, fashion and home products. Whether that turns occasional beauty browsing into repeat purchases will depend on execution, including the eventual store locations, staffing and product mix. Those details are not yet public.

What shoppers will find

The companies said the in-store offer will cover skincare, makeup, fragrance, haircare and bodycare, with a mix of established favourites, emerging brands and selected exclusives. Specialist beauty teams are planned for the stores.

M&S.com will carry a broader online range, with home delivery and Click & Collect from M&S stores nationwide. The final brand line-up, including which Sephora exclusives will feature, is due closer to launch. The announcement did not specify prices, a full list of participating stores or how the offer will work with either retailer's loyalty scheme.

Customers should be able to discover products in person while accessing a wider assortment online, although the companies have not said how much of that range will be available in each store.

Why beauty matters to M&S

M&S cited Worldpanel by Numerator data putting the UK beauty market at £5.2 billion for the 52 weeks to 19 July 2026, up 1.2% year on year. It said its own share was 1.3% on a separate 12-week-equivalent basis to 19 July 2026. These figures use different measurement periods and should not be read as a direct like-for-like comparison.

The partnership therefore gives M&S a chance to develop a category in which it currently has a relatively small share. Its existing footfall and store network could introduce Sephora to shoppers who would not otherwise visit one of its dedicated stores. That is the strategic promise; neither company has provided a sales forecast or quantified the expected uplift.

For other retailers, the more consequential question is whether a specialist brand can keep its identity and service standards inside a broader department-store environment. Sephora at M&S will test that proposition in the UK from spring 2027. Until the first locations and product ranges are announced, the scale of the plan is clearer than the customer experience it will deliver.

Sources

This article is based on the M&S and Sephora partnership announcement, published on 29 September 2026. The market figures are attributed to Worldpanel by Numerator in that announcement.