Business

Marks & Spencer has taken an 80,000 sq ft unit in Bracknell
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Marks & Spencer coming to new Bracknell

By Hugh Fort
October 18, 2012

It has been announced Marks & Spencer will be coming to the new Bracknell and is due to open in approximately three years.

Bracknell Regeneration Partnership has confirmed the retail giant has signed a pre-let on an 80,000 sq ft store in the new town centre.

Helen Barnett, marketing manager at BRP says: “We are delighted to welcome Marks & Spencer back to the town centre. Its reputation for quality products and service excellence is exactly what we are endeavouring to cultivate within our new town centre.

“Over the coming months, we hope to be in a position to announce the construction schedule and to share the latest visuals for the town centre so that this announcement can be put into perspective.”

Rumours of big names in new Bracknell

The new store will bring new jobs to the area and will boast a full range of fashion, homeware and food.

Cllr Marc Brunel-Walker executive member for economic development and regeneration, said: " It is incredibly good news.

"This is massive redevelopment news and the next massive stope in redevelopment.

"We are hoping work will begin soon."

Marks & Spencer confirmed the new store will be situated adjacent to Millennium Way in the northern part of the town centre and will have a 'stylish' M&S cafe with Fairtrade tea or coffee served by specially trained baristas.

The food hall will offer more than 4,000 products including a wide selection of fresh produce, ready meals, and food on-the-go, as well as a comprehensive selection of wine and Champagne. There will also be a bakery with produce baked freshly every day.

Cineworld major step forward for regeneration

Clem Constantine, property director for Marks & Spencer, said: “We are delighted to be involved with this development in order to give our customers in Bracknell a full range of fashion, homeware and quality food. The BRP’s vision for the Town Centre is exciting and we are delighted to have been selected as the anchor tenant.”

Cllr Brunel-Walker added: "This will not just be a food store but a full on department store.

"This sends a big message out to retailers.

"I remember how gutted people were when the Simply Food store closed and I am really excited they are coming back to Bracknell."

Final curtain for Bracknell's M & S Simply Food

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It would be a fab idea to move up the town but as it stands, there are a stalls at the market who wouldn't be able to trade as they have so much stock which would have to be secured. It would take them all day just to set up! Get around that problem and all would be wonderful. I obviously wouldn't have a nice little cafe within the market and so would have to fold as I very much doubt a minion like me would be able to afford the town centre rents once our new town is built. Wimbourne market is a good example - they have outsede sheds for their perminant traders which are secured when the market isn't trading.

HK, bracknell
23/10/2012 at 16:28

I still don't quite understand why the market cannot move into the centre of Town as per Wokingham - and where they tend to have the Bracknell farmers markets.

You would surely get much higher footfall and not have to worry about Winchester House anymore.

The market used to be fantastic 10 - 15 years ago when it was a bustling hub.

Beef, Bracknell
23/10/2012 at 09:55

The council have around 75 years left on the lease I believe (could be a year or so out on that figure). They have not long renewed the contract with Grenchurch (so I have been told) and so even if we did want to run it ourselves, we were never given the opportunity. We HAVE come up with many ideas for the market which could bring in more trade and traders but as per usual, our voices are never heard. FYI there is: fruit and veg, eggs and cake decorating, flowers, meat, fish, material, haberdashery, pet food, magazines, a gold merchant, mobile phone and accessories, cafe and a battery and watch service at the market. OK, it’s not quite the bustling place it used to be but we are generally a happy bunch down there. We would all like the building to come down as well just to put that one down on the record. Yes, we traders do use the car park but generally, only the spaces that customers wouldn’t park in as it would mean being blocked in. We don’t want it all for nothing. We pay a daily rent which varies from stall to stall and so yes, we expect a little in return and I don’t think that’s too much to ask for. Perhaps it is!! Good for you Tom if you won’t ever step foot into the market but for many of our customers, it’s a place where they meet up and have a social get together. I very much doubt they would do that around the fancy fish and meat counter in Waitrose let alone pay the prices for a cup of tea that they charge. Re the farmers market – we have suggested it be brought into the market and surrounding area but as per usual, this would help everyone and so that suggestion fell on deaf ears. We have suggested many, many things but each time, it’s swept under the carpet. We often feel we are knocking our heads against a brick wall with the council and/or BRP. So, before people start to think market traders simply moan, groan and want something for nothing, please get some facts right or even come and ask us what we think and would like.

HK, bracknell
22/10/2012 at 21:04

"Winstanley - I forget, are you a former Borough Councillor for the Labour Party or is it the Town Council? "

neither Tom - whilst you may detect a red leaning flavour to my political direction I consider myself independent. The major political parties are redundant and discredited - they serve no one but themselves. bracknell's residents need representatives who will truly back them and not narrow party dogma.

Or maybe you were attempting a lame and snide put down. Always a sign of nothing to say. Even more so when coming from someone who can't even see that the market serves a very real need for those Bracknell residents that can't afford to shop in Waitrose - let alone Sandhurst Farmers Market.

You snob.

Winstanley, Bracknell
22/10/2012 at 09:45

We are not being told the whole story - nor were the BFC Planning committee on Thursday evening - this wasn't even mentioned . The overall Town centre plan is much changed since it set out as `a great deal for Bracknell with new council offices built before the Broadway was to be turned into a massive shopping mall'.

The 48 page document tabled to the planning committee has lots of planning details but it was difficult to see the overall picture other than various quite significant changes since last time. Time our local lot heeded what is happening in the real world of retail - the Peel centre thrives - perhaps because you can park easily and free next the shops - and online shopping is causing the `national chains' to close town centre shops - and you can see that in the empty shops in Bracknell nowi.

As Winstanley and HK say - the `big retail' driven plan is in trouble - so I guess Bracknell might have to offer inducements to get something moving.

It looks that the planned new M&S store involves closing the inner ring road (as a local resident I think that is daft) and I guess BFC are paying for all the roads changes. Is that what local residents want?

At Planning meeting questions were asked about the plans for the bus station - an aspect much questioned by residents in earlier consultations - but it is still being moved away from near the railway station.

Our Council leaders had a `vision' they told us in 2006 for the town centre. I think we need to scrap that and change to a more sustainable strategy - more about people and services.

Our Council seems stuck having to work to an outdated `vision' for the town centre, and cling on hoping will now be `delivered in stages'.

Lots of effort has been spent and commercial deals entered into for the regeneration, but where are we now - we should be told!

Newtowner, Priestwood
21/10/2012 at 19:56

We are not being told the whole story - nor were the BFC Planning committee on Thursday evening - this wasn't even mentioned . The overall Town centre plan is much changed since it set out as `a great deal for Bracknell with new council offices built before the Broadway was to be turned into a massive shopping mall'.

The 48 page document tabled to the planning committee has lots of planning details but it was difficult to see the overall picture other than various quite significant changes since last time. Time our local lot heeded what is happening in the real world of retail - the Peel centre thrives - perhaps because you can park easily and free next the shops - and online shopping is causing the `national chains' to close town centre shops - and you can see that in the empty shops in Bracknell nowi.

As Winstanley and HK say - the `big retail' driven plan is in trouble - so I guess Bracknell might have to offer inducements to get something moving.

It looks that the planned new M&S store involves closing the inner ring road (as a local resident I think that is daft) and a guess BFC are paying for all the roads changes. Is that what local residents want?

At Planning meeting questions were asked about the plans for the bus station - an aspect much questioned by residents in earlier consultations - but it is still being moved away from near the railway station.

Our Council leaders had a `vision' they told us in 2006 for the town centre. I think we need to scrap that and change to a more sustainable strategy - more about people and services.

Our Council seems stuck having to work to an outdated `vision' for the town centre, and cling on hoping will now be `delivered in stages'.

Lots of effort has been spent and commercial deals entered into for the regeneration, but where are we now - we should be told!

Newtowner, Priestwood
21/10/2012 at 19:55

Hazel - the trouble with the market is that its open 2 days a week and has about 5 or 6 stalls - The greengrocer has a shop in the Town Centre, the Fishmonger never has a huge amount, and now that Waitrose is open they have a huge fish counter and a vast meet counter - and they also have a cafe much more expensive that you I know - but none the less it’s a cafe] You want it all and you want it for nothing. I NEVER shop in the Market - and quite frankly - I never will there is absolutely nothing there that I want. But I do accept that some people do want to visit and buy from there. I do however visit the FANTASTIC Farmers Market that comes to Sandhurst twice a month - Why can’t we have that in Bracknell?? there is a large space outside Winchester House and a sizable surface car park 30 seconds walk away that last time I was there charged my £1.

Instead of moaning - do something. The Council owns the lease, you have a manager and a company that manages it. If you think you can do better - ask the Council when the Contract runs out and bid for it .... or at the least tell the world what you would do differently to make the market work.

There is so much parking in the area, including the Doctors Surgery - what you want is Free Parking. Do you pay for your spaces? No? Then stop moaning! The rest of us that work in the town do have to pay for parking permits if we want to park in the town ..... I would shut up, or you might find the Council installing Pay and Display.

Winstanley - I forget, are you a former Borough Councillor for the Labour Party or is it the Town Council?

Tom Edwards, Bracknell
21/10/2012 at 18:58

Hazel you've identified the very problem this town suffers from:

Councillors and regeneration management who love to give it large about the town developments and yet actually deliver nothing. When the citizens of Bracknell see this year in and year out it's no wonder so many feel they are having the p*ss taken out of them and therefore feel justified in behaving in exactly the same way.

The civic leaders of this town need to understand something, whether they are elected politicians or corporate stooges like BRP.

They need to realise that they occupy a position of responsibility and they're conduct must be above reproach - this doesn't just mean making sure they don't abuse public money (whether through personal abuse or wasting tax payers money through endless rewrites of development plans).

They must also act in a way that sets the tone and direction for the town. This has been the biggest failure - a collective complacency at what they are meant to be doing and delivering. You have an incumbent class of politicians who have come to see their positions as a right and not an honour. They deliver platitudes and soundbites instead of concrete evidence of the endeavours.

Why should the rest of us aspire to do better, and be better, when those who seek to represent us merely represent they're own interests?

Winstanley, Bracknell
21/10/2012 at 12:13

Alas, we are never told anything and what with our car park now half the size it was, it's as if BFC and/or BRP are doing all they can to prevent us from trading. Half the cars that come into the car park now just turn away as they can't get parked. It doesn't help when people take the p*ss and leave their cars there while they wander off to do their shopping in town. The powers that be let us use that car park for drop off and pick up and yet there are people who abuse it. I myself was blocked in tonight when I went to leave work by someone who thought fit to abandon their car in front of mine. Its people like that who get under my skin as we are all trying our hardest to keep our customers but they can't park due to idiots like that. We traders try to park so we are blocked in during the day (i.e. spaces which cannot be used by the public). Perhaps the plan is to drive all the customers away by reducing the size of the car park which will then mean traders will pack up and go. Then, the market won't be a problem for the council or BRP at all as it will be closed.

HK, bracknell
20/10/2012 at 17:42

Hazel - there are many of us in Bracknell with fingers crossed that BFC and BRP do right by you guys at the market by ensuring you are all included in these plans.

Winstanley, Bracknell
19/10/2012 at 19:31

Meanwhile, while waiting for the fancy food court where you will be able to buy fair trade coffee served by a fancy barista, why not come down the market and have a cuppa traditional tea or a normal coffee (fancier stuff available but not served by a barista) along with a bit of homemade cake for £1.50 or even, wait for it, a home cooked meal for £3.50 where I will almost guarantee you won't go home hungry lol

It all sounds rather pleasant doesn't it but alas, I fear me, along with many others will not be adequately funded by our banks to be able to afford such luxuries. Nice for those who can and it will hopefully bring many outside shoppers in.

We are all very cynical about the whole thing but surely the never ending plans which have no doubt cost us thousands, if not millions over the past 20 years have to come to something eventually. I live in hope because without that, what have we got?

Primark and other less "toff" shops would be a start for us less fortunate who have not got large bank balances to play with.

Smile and the people around you will smile too. (that was random I know but try it, it does sometimes work)

HK, bracknell
19/10/2012 at 19:18

we already have a Next at Peel Centre....

but you've missed my point - shopping opportunities do not make a regeneration alone. Bracknell is crying out for the full Trinny and Susannah - high street chains from food and retail, entertainment, independent local retailers who have a real stake in the future of the town, and an infrastructure that actually improves the residents lives.

Maddie Vegas, Hanworth, Bracknell
19/10/2012 at 09:59

@Maddie - you wouldn't fit more than 7 businesses of this size in the town centre, so yes, it would. Any regeneration needs a few big stores to kick-start and sustain an area. The Oracle went for House of Fraser, Debenhams and Vue (or Warner Bros). Hopefully now you'll get lots of much smaller names joinging the party, like Next, to make a complete town centre.

mavdo, Wokingham
19/10/2012 at 09:48

Regeneration is not just building more shops - whether they are glossy multi-national chains or not.

Infrastructure, investment in established business, education, civic pride, green spaces - to regenerate means to recreate, create anew, give new life - biblically speaking it means renewal.

Shopping opportunities are one facet of any urban regeneration and frankly are Marx's modern day equivalent of opium for the masses.

Keep them subdued with retail and materialism and don't let them think about the worthwhile stuff like children's centres being closed, tax hikes for millionaires, benefit cuts for those on the breadline, price hikes in fuel and energy, climate change, and our young men being shipped off to die.

Maddie Vegas, Hanworth, Bracknell
18/10/2012 at 17:36

So by your calculations Tom that's over a quarter of the scheme with two businesses - so we can only expect 5 and a bit more businesses to qualify as a regeneration?