Marks & Spencer: Northampton given £1m to redevelop old department store

The plans would see a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments built, with leisure facilities on the ground floor

A town has been awarded £1m in government funding to prepare a former Marks & Spencer store for development.

The Northampton store closed in 2018 as part of a savings plan by the retailer.

Northampton Borough Council announced its purchase of the vacant shop unit for £1.45m last week, and plans to create a new commercial and residential space at the Abington Street site.

It would see leisure spaces on the ground floor, with a mix of one/two-bedroom apartments above it.

It comes after the council published plans last year, outlining how it intended to revive the town centre and tackle some of its long-standing issues.

The Conservative-controlled authority also formed a new board called Northampton Forward to "create a vision" for a number of "strategic locations" in the town, including Abington Street.

A public consultation on the plans is open.

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The council said it chose to buy the deserted M&S store, in a prime location on the town's main shopping street, because there had been no interest in the site from other retailers or private developers, in part due to reduced town centre footfall amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The awarding of £1m from the government's towns fund initiative will be used to remove asbestos from the site in preparation for demolition.

Tim Hadland, council cabinet member for regeneration and enterprise, said: "Without this funding, it would be difficult to give this site a new lease of life.

"Shopping habits have changed drastically, and large retail units are now extremely difficult to fill, so it's vital that we do something different with this key town centre site."

Northampton's Marks & Spencer store closed in August 2018