One of the UK’s best known High Street retailers, Debenhams, is coming to Beverley. The company, which has 163 stores nationwide, has signed an Agreement to Lease with the developers behind the £120m Flemingate, Beverley, regeneration project to anchor the scheme by taking a 40,000 sq.ft. unit.
This follows the recent news that the retailer is to undertake a refurbishment of its Hull store. The announcement was made as residents local to the 10-acre site were given an opportunity to view the scheme in detail and to talk to representatives from the development team.
The re-development of Flemingate is the largest project of its kind to take place in Beverley and will create around 700 permanent new jobs with a further estimated 320 jobs during the construction phase. Remediation and archaeology contractors are already on site, as are house builder Linden Homes who are building a mix of new homes on a further six-acres.
Having gained Outline Consent for the scheme in 2009, the consortium, consisting of The Wykeland Group, C P Group and Quintain Estates and Developments, will shortly be submitting a detailed planning application for the entire site to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council.
Alongside the retail element, the new Flemingate will also include an 80-bed hotel, a fivescreen cinema complex, restaurants, a 486-space multi-storey car park, 20,000 sq.ft. of office accommodation and a Community Centre for use by Beverlonians and local groups for generations to come.
The town’s Civic Society has welcomed the regeneration of the key site, which was previously occupied in different eras by a tannery, a chemicals company and the Museum of Army Transport.
The consortium says the development will bring new jobs and new life to this part of the town and will attract even more visitors to Beverley, complementing existing Town Centre shops, cafes and restaurants and generally enhancing Beverley’s reputation as a leading destination for retail and tourism.
