Marks and Spencer not taking over Darlington Binns

Last week, Frasers Group, which owns the department chain, announced that the House of Fraser store on High Row would be closing after more than 100 years in the town. 

It came after the building was put up for sale for £1m in July by its owners, who are understood to be Arab investors.

Bosses said the store closure - which was initially earmarked for December but is now believed to be late November - was due to the landlord terminating the lease.

The store closure was announced last week (Image: PAUL NORRIS)

Now, a Marks and Spencer source has told The Northern Echo that rumours that the popular chain would be taking over Binns are false, and that it won't be moving in. 

M&S has not based a full store in the town centre since controversially closing the doors of its Northgate site in 2018, instead opting to open a new food hall in West Park. 

It currently operates an M&S food in a section of WHSmith in the Cornmill Shopping Centre.

Speculation that it could be moving into Binns - along with other retailers such as Primark - surfaced over the weekend after The Northern Echo revealed it would be closing last week. 

The former Marks and Spencer store in Darlington

This included rumours that M&S has purchased the building, which is still up for sale, that have since proven false.

More recently, Darlington Council chief executive Ian Williams all but ruled out the council putting in a bid to buy the building, having previously used Government ‘towns fund’ money to buy buildings such as The Echo's former Priestgate headquarters.

Mr Williams said: “The towns fund is nearing completion and projects approved by the last government are progressing. In the towns fund, there’s not a lot of money left in that for us.

Closing down signs have since been put on the windows of the store (Image: PAUL NORRIS)

“We haven’t got the luxury of using that to buy the buildings. As to whether there’s any future government money, who knows?

“You would have to do your own due diligence. There’s no point acquiring a building if you have no funds to do justice to that building.”

The Echo understands that several potential buyers have shown interest in the site, but that no deal has been agreed as of yet. 

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A spokesperson for Frasers said on Thursday: “It is with regret that we announce House of Fraser Darlington will be closing in December 2024, due to the landlord's decision to terminate the lease as they require the unit back before Christmas.

“Our customers can continue to shop the world’s most aspirational brands at Frasers.com, or access more brands from the Group’s ecosystem at Sports Direct Darlington and FLANNELS Darlington at the Cornmill Shopping Centre.

"We would like to take this opportunity to thank our staff for their hard work and dedication. Where possible, we are committed to finding new roles within the Group for staff.”