Over the next 18 months Marks and Spencer (M&S) will invest around £30 million in its Scottish stores.

About half of the investment will go towards expanding its store in Aberdeen to double its size. The revamped store will include a new food hall with a dedicated wine shop, larger bakery and a “cheese barge.” The clothing, home and beauty departments will also be expanded.

Additionally, M&S stores in Dundee, Edinburgh and Linlithgow will receive investment.

The retailer also has plans to open a store in Largs for the first time with a new food hall onsite by early next year.

M&S said the move will support around 6,500 jobs in the region and is part of its ongoing investment in Scotland.

The company says it has spent £32 million on eleven Scottish stores over the past four years, including brand-new food halls in Paisley, Hamilton and East Kilbride.

"This is our biggest ever investment in Scotland, putting £30m into transforming the shopping experience for customers in Aberdeen, Largs, Dundee and Linlithgow - bringing new jobs across the country with bigger, better, fresh-market style food halls and new opportunities for Scottish shoppers to access our best-ever, most inspiringly presented clothing, home and beauty range,” said Sacha Berendji, operations director at M&S.

Berendji added that the investment goes beyond new stores, with the company sourcing more Scottish produce than ever before with strong partnerships with local producers.

He added: “Around 2,500 Scottish farms, sea farms and fisheries supply us with great quality products, many supplied beyond Scotland to M&S stores across the UK. Our commitment to Scotland has never been stronger.”

In November last year, M&S said it would open nine stores in England, investing around £80 million in the project. Three of the new stores are food halls and three openings are revamped stores.

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