RETAILER Debenhams has announced a ten per cent increase in profits as plans to create a flagship store in Darlington press ahead.

The company has revealed it will refurbish its Middlesbrough store as part of an acceleration of its modernisation programme, which will see 45 stores upgraded next year.

The results, which also showed group sales up by 4.5 per cent and profits increasing for the third year running to £166.1m, were announced by Debenhams’ new chief executive Michael Sharp and counter recent high street gloom.

The Office of National Statistics announced yesterday that retail volumes in September grew just 0.6 per cent on the previous month, following a downwardly revised 0.4 per cent drop in August.

Mr Sharp said: “This is a strong signal that the UK high street is alive and well and we are backing it 100 per cent. It’s great news for job seekers as well as shoppers across the country. It also shows a very real commitment to our clear focus on growing our UK retail business.

“A mix of refurbishment, new brands and the addition of extra top designer and beauty brands deliver what effectively looks like a new store following a modernisation.

“I’m delighted that over the next few years more customers than ever before will have access to the UK’s top name beauty brands and our exclusive and ever-growing Designer at Debenhams offer.”

Debenham’s new store and modernisation programme will create 4,050 jobs and further cements the retailer’s commitment to getting the country back to work.

In Darlington, prospects for a new store in The Northern Echo’s building have moved a step closer after developers submitted a planning application on behalf of the Moorfield Group, which owns the Cornmill Shopping Centre.

The development is expected to create 200 jobs in the fourstorey 62,000sq ft department store.

Many of the renovations to the building will be internal, with the building’s facade remaining relatively unchanged.

Stairs will be replaced and lifts will be created, and the layout will be changed, while a new service yard area will be made for the nearby Post Office, as well as Debenhams.

The building will be linked to the main Cornmill Centre mall, with three shops being lost as a result.

On the outside of the building, developers will fit new doors and entrances.

The Northern Echo and Darlington & Stockton Times lettering would be relocated to the top of the building with new Debenhams signs added.

The Northern Echo has been based in Priestgate since the first copy was published on January 1, 1870. The existing building was redeveloped in 1916.