Iconic building acquisition secures jobs and is more good news for Darlington
REAL ESTATE
Round the clock – Parker Barras founder John Taylor worked tirelessly to seal the deal with Frasers and save jobs .
Iconic building acquisition secures jobs and is more good news for Darlington
RETAIL
RESCUE
WORDS : SARAH WALKER
Parker Barras has helped to keep a destination retail attraction in Darlington after acquiring the former House of Fraser building and successfully leasing it back to the Frasers group .
People from all over the North-East travel to Darlington thanks to its superior retail offering . And one of the main draws is the town having the only “ House of Fraser ” – now known as Frasers – store left in the region .
House of Fraser , which housed wellknown fashion brands such as Ted Baker , Biba and Oasis , fell into administration in 2018 , before being bought out by Sports Direct and Flannels owner Mike Ashley .
Several House of Fraser stores closed as Ashley overhauled the business and sought to create fewer physical destination shopping experiences in smaller stores , while improving Frasers ’ online shopping offering .
But the House of Fraser store in Darlington remained as Frasers – and the staff who work there now have a more secure future , thanks to the transaction overseen by Parker Barras .
John Taylor , Parker Barras ’ s founder , said : “ House of Fraser had occupied the 145,000-sq ft property for a number of years , but the company was bought out by Mike Ashley in 2018 after House of Fraser fell into administration .
It ’ s great that this highquality fashion outlet will now remain open and provide job security for the staff who work there .
“ We acquired the building on behalf of a client from its previous owner , the Bank of Kuwait , and approached Frasers to agree favourable lease terms , ensuring the retailer ’ s presence remains in the town .
“ Frasers is a welcome addition to Darlington , which has seen record investment in the last couple of years in its town centre and railway station on the back of the treasury jobs which came to the town .
“ It ’ s great that this high-quality fashion outlet will now remain open and provide job security for the staff who work there .”
The store had been due to shut in November but the “ closing down ” signs have now been taken down and staff have been informed the redundancy process has been cancelled .
And while it ’ s only a reprieve for the store at this stage , John is confident Frasers will agree a long-term stay , although it might require a smaller store , in which case the existing store can be remodelled to suit its requirements
As the last Frasers store in the North- East , John says the outlet is a big draw to the town .
“ It brings people from outside the area , just to visit that store in town ,” he says . “ People are coming to Darlington to shop , work and live .
“ The town is very much open for business and having a good retail offering is an extremely important aspect of that , with Frasers complementing everything that ’ s going on in Darlington today .”
John admits Parker Barras has worked “ around the clock ” to secure the complex deal , which “ safeguards jobs and gives a bit of security to the staff there ”.
He added : “ If you look at the town centres on Teesside , Darlington is performing really well and there have been a number of new businesses opening up in the town centre .
“ There are not as many vacant shops as there are in other towns across the region . It ’ s an attractive town centre that ’ s easy to get around and it has been nice to finish off the year with the acquisition of such an iconic building .”
Darlington ’ s House of Fraser building was purchased by the Bank of Kuwait for £ 22m in 2016 – but the sum of the latest acquisition remains undisclosed .
Other acquisitions for Parker Barras in Darlington this year have included a property on West Auckland Road – an old carpet store that had been vacant for some years .
“ This has now been remodelled into three retail units ,” John said . “ We have also acquired three public houses in the town centre and they have all been refurbished and brought back to life . “ Overall , I think there are a lot of positive things going on in Darlington .”
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