'Last minute lovers’: M&S travel outlets set to sell nearly 16,000 bunches of flowers in valentine’s day dash

M&S’s UK travel outlets are braced for a last-minute Valentine’s Day dash as last-minute lovers rush to buy thousands of bunches of flowers and sweet treats in the run-up to 14th February.

Figures from SSP Group, which operates 50 M&S Food outlets in UK airports and railway stations and a host of other travel brands across 38 countries, revealed nearly 16,000 bunches were sold on Valentine’s Day in its UK M&S stores last year. That’s nearly eight times more than an average day, based on sales figures from the same period last year across the M&S travel locations that SSP operates.  The outlets also sold an average of eight sweet treats ‘gifting’ boxes every minute. 

Across these M&S travel locations, customers in London Waterloo and London Bridge stations were the most ‘last minute’ with over 1,000 bouquets sold on Valentine’s Day at each of the locations. 

Similar trends are seen at Millie’s Cookies, the retail bakery specialising in cookies and gifting online and in stores, which sells more cookies every year on the 12th and 13th February than any other day. 

The Valentine’s range, including personalised and heart-shaped giant cookies, with slogans such as ‘You’re the choc to my chip’, is one of the best-selling ranges every year.  On the 13th February last year, Millie’s sold 3,500 giant cookies online, an increase of nearly five times the amount sold on an average day.  

Ollie Viney, UK&I Retail Operations Director at SSP Group, said: “Every Valentine’s Day, we see a rush of last-minute romantics picking up flowers on the move, and our M&S travel stores are right at the heart of it. Whether it’s a beautiful bouquet, something sweet, or a personalised treat, we have customers covered in that last-minute dash before seeing the one they love. It’s proof that even when you’re travelling, a romantic gesture is never out of reach - and we probably save a few relationships along the way too.”