North West stores feature prominently in Primark’s £100m investment plans
Discount retailer, Primark, is investing more than £100m in its UK stores in 2024, including significant improvements for its North West stable of outlets.
Among the most high profile plans over the coming year is the relocation of its Bolton store, from Crompton Place to The Market Place.
A raft of its UK portfolio will also undergo significant refurbishments this year.
Across the North West these include its Bury store, in South Street, the Southport store in Chapel Street, the Birkenhead site in Grange Road, the Chestergate store in Stockport, and its Foregate Street site in Chester.
The programme marks the 50th anniversary of the group which was founded in Ireland in 1969 under the Penneys brand, then moved to England next in 1974 and now operates as part of the Associated British Foods group
New store locations and extensions combined, Primark is set to reach 195 stores and almost eight million sq ft of selling space by the end of the year.
The new stores and significant extensions will result in almost 700 new jobs across these stores this year, ranging from retail assistants to store manager positions.
Kari Rodgers, UK Retail Director at Primark, said: “We’ve changed a lot in the fifty years since we opened the doors on our first store in Great Britain in Derby back in 1974, but at our heart, we are still the same.
“This latest investment will mean bigger and better stores, hundreds of new jobs across the country and shows our ongoing commitment to the UK high street.”
Today, the retailer employs more than 30,000 people in the UK and has 192 stores across the nation’s cities and town centres, as well as shopping centres and retail parks.
Last year, Primark introduced a Click + Collect service to 57 stores across Greater London, the North West of England and North Wales, offering customers another way to shop and another reason to visit their local high street.
