Primark is set to invest more than £100m in its UK stores this year as it marks 50 years on the British high street.
The fashion and home retailer is set to open three new shops, three relocations and two “significant extensions” to existing stores across the next 12 months.
It will also begin refurbishment of 15 sites as part of its ongoing refit programme to reduce its carbon footprint across its proporty estate.
The retailer said the investment, which will create over 700 new jobs, includes more than £75m of new funding on top of the plans it announced in November 2022.
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Primark will open the first of its new stores in Bury St. Edmunds on March 6, which will be followed by Teesside Park and Glasgow Fort later in the year.
The retailer will also unveil its newly upsized London’s Westfield Stratford store, which has almost doubled in size to more than 81,000sq. ft to become the second largest Primark in the capital.
This will be followed by its stores in Gateshead’s Metrocentre, which will expand to almost 80,000sq. ft of total shopping space once reopened later this year.
Primark UK retail director Kari Rodgers said: “We’ve changed a lot in the 50 years since we opened the doors on our first store in Great Britain in Derby back in 1974, but at our heart, we are still the same.
“We’re as committed as ever to offering the very best value on the high street and making great fashion more affordable and accessible for everyone.
“This latest investment will mean bigger and better stores, hundreds of new jobs across the country and shows our ongoing commitment to the UK high street.”
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3 Comments. Leave new
Bradford, High Wycombe and Bolton are the relocating stores
And stores for refurbishment –
Oxford Street East, 14-28 Oxford Street, Fitzrovia, London W1D 1AU
Bury, The Rock Shopping Centre, South Street, Bury BL9 0ND
Cwmbran Shopping Centre, General Rees Square, Cwmbran NP44 1AH
Southport, 1 Chapel Street, Southport PR8 1AE
Yeovil, 19 Middle Street, Yeovil BA20 1LF
Barnstaple, 49 – 52 High Street, Barnstaple EX31 1BZ
Hackney, 365 – 371 Mare Street, London E8 1HY
Newry, Unit 55 Buttercrane Shopping Centre, Newry BT35 8HJ
Birkenhead, 212 – 218 Grange Road, Birkenhead CH41 6EA
Hounslow, 165 – 169 High Street, Hounslow TW3 1QL
Chelmsford, 9 High Chelmer, Chelmsford CM1 1XL
Stockport, Chestergate, Stockport SK1 1NT
Telford, 208 Dean Street, The Telford Centre, Telford TF3 4AP
Chester, 52-60 Foregate St, Chester CH1 1HA
Cambridge, 62-74 Burleigh St, Cambridge CB1 1DJ
I find it interesting when retailers say they are creating new jobs, as in reality, the jobs will be lost at another retailer.