B&M to move into old Marks & Spencer store in Stockton

B&M will move into the former Marks & Spencer building, which has been empty since 2018

A high street store that has been empty for four years is set to reopen with a new tenant.

The large unit in Stockton High Street has been vacant since Marks & Spencer closed in 2018.

Now B&M has agreed to move there as it leaves the Castlegate centre, which will be knocked down as part of a £37m riverside redesign.

Stockton Council is due to start demolition of the Castlegate car park in the next month.

B&M had objected to the council's compulsory purchase order (CPO) of its unit in the 1970s-built Castlegate but the issue was now "historic for all practical purposes" with the firm moving to the former M&S store, the council's lawyer said.

At a meeting about the CPO, the council's barrister Mark Westmoreland-Smith confirmed B&M's move, adding the council was going to help with the transition.

A new riverside park will be built on the site of the Castlegate shopping centre

He said concerns raised by Virgin, Vodafone and Northern Powergrid about a "stopping up order" on Riverside Road were "being dealt with", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

M&S closed in 2018 with a complicated ownership emerging in the aftermath, with Danish property firm KS Habro holding a lease on the site until 2254.

The empty store freehold was sold at an auction in 2020 for £550,000 - much higher than its guide price of £300,000.

Mr Westmoreland-Smith said Habro Investment was not particularly keen to invest in the property so the council had agreed to step in so B&M stayed in Stockton.

He said: "A tripartite agreement has been set out in principle, where we will do the necessary landlord works."

The meeting also heard Heron Foods was relocating to Wellington Square with work "in hand".