Top retailer set to open Bexhill store

TODAY (Friday) brings the first chance for local people to see plans for a new Marks and Spencer store which the company wants to open at Ravenside Retail Park, Glyne Gap. There will also be another opportunity tomorrow.

The proposed store would extend across 51,000 square feet, be roughly equivalent in size to the existing Marks and Spencer store in Eastbourne, and, if approved, would bring 100 new jobs to the town.

Land Securities, the owners of Ravenside and Britain’s largest commercial property company, together with representatives from Marks and Spencer and the development team working on the project, will be on hand to explain the scheme and to answer questions about it.

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Details of the proposals will be displayed in the Studio at the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill -- today between 10am and 6pm, and tomorrow from 10am until 3pm.

The new store would effectively replace the existing Ocean Bowling unit at Ravenside, which a Land Securities spokesman said was closing down of its own volition.

It would represent a change of use, thus requiring planning consent from Rother District Council, and would embody all the features of a “traditional” Marks and Spencer store - men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, food and drink, household goods and a cafeteria.

Hermione Mackrill, of Land Securities, said: “We’re delighted to present an opportunity to bring Marks and Spencer, one of the UK’s leading and most popular retailers, to Bexhill. We’re very confident it will add to the attractivenness of Bexhill as a shopping destination.”

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Spencer Sheen, head of property planning at Marks and Spencer, added: “We’ve been looking to open a new store in Bexhill for a while. We are delighted to have identified this great site.

“Not only does this proposal give our local customers increased access to fantastic quality M&S products, but it will create 100 new jobs for the area.”

The invitation to local people to view the proposals and to talk to the developers is by way of a “pre-submission consultation” - finding out what people think and gauging support for a new store prior to a bid for formal planning permission being made.

Marks and Spencer has more than 600 stores in the UK, ranging from its 170,000 square feet flagship store in London’s Oxford Street, through out-of-town stores of up to 100,000 square feet and down to 7,000 square feet Simply Food stores.

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The company traces its history back to 1884 when a Russian-born Polish refugee opened “Marks’ Penny Bazaar”, a stall in Leeds’ Kirkgate market, at which every item sold cost a penny.

The Ravenside retail and leisure park has 13 units, featuring several big-name stores including a 24-hour Tesco supermarket plus branches of B&Q, Boots, Next, Currys, Halfords, Wickes, Comet, Pets at Home and PC World.

The site also has KFC and McDonald’s eateries, parking for almost 900 cars and is home to Bexhill Leisure Pool.

Rother District Council’s head of planning, Tim Hickling, said: “The council will consider any planning application submitted on the Marks and Spencer proposal in due course.

“It would be inappropriate to give any opinion on the scheme at this stage, as this could prejudice the planning process. Any application will be considered on planning grounds only.”

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