Marks & Spencer ‘flagship’ store to anchor second phase of St Modwen’s Longbridge scheme
DEVELOPER St Modwen has secured a deal with Marks & Spencer which will see the retailer opening a 150,000 sq ft ‘flagship’ store at its large-scale Longbridge regeneration scheme in Birmingham.
Arranged over two floors, this M&S letting will be one of the largest in the UK for the national retailer and will create up to 350 jobs.
It will also be the anchor of the second phase of the Longbridge town centre for which St Modwen will shortly submit a revised planning application, which – along with the new letting – will include proposals for 45,000 sq ft of additional retail units, plus a surface and multi-storey car park.
Subject to planning, works to the second phase of the town centre will start on site in mid-2014 with the new Marks & Spencer anticipated to open for trading by Christmas 2015.
Birmingham-based St Modwen originally acquired the 468 acre former MG Rover site at Longbridge in 2003. The scheme constitutes a 15-year, £1bn regeneration project, which will culminate in the creation of up to 2,000 new homes together with employment and retail facilities to support up to 10,000 jobs.
Bill Oliver, chief executive of S. Modwen, said: “To date, St Modwen has created over 3,500 jobs on site at Longbridge. The addition of Marks & Spencer to the scheme, which will underpin the delivery of phase two of the new town centre, illustrates further how our transformational regeneration projects can encourage investment and serve as true catalysts for change, as well as creating substantial value for our shareholders.”
Julie Ridley, regional manager at M&S, said: “This is an exciting prospect for M&S and the shoppers of Longbridge. We’re looking forward to bringing all that M&S has to offer to the local area and believe the new store will cater for the shoppers of south Birmingham and attract new customers from the M5 and M42 corridor.”
Meanwhile, in a trading update issued to the London Stock Exchange this morning, St Modwen said it expects to be able to announce positive full year figures.
The statement – covering the financial year to the end of November – said: “Against the backdrop of an improving market and strengthening economy, initial indications point to positive market valuation movement for the year compared with 2012.
“None of St Modwen’s existing corporate or joint venture debt facilities require renewal before November 2014 and cashflows including debt performance is good. Outlook for profit before all tax for the year is therefore likely to be substantially ahead of previous management expectations.”
With regard to two of its larger schemes, the developer said it remains on course to receive planning consent for its New Covent Garden Market regeneration scheme in London in 2014 while the first phase of works at the £450m Bay Campus for Swansea University are on schedule, with steelworks and superstructure advancing well and construction of the student accommodation now underway.
St Modwen said demand for land is growing steadily across the country and it continues to secure disposals above book value, particularly in London and the South East.
“Overall profits from residential development remain in line with expectations set out at the half year. We continue to see increasing customer interest and are achieving good sales rates both across our St Modwen Homes sites and those developed in joint venture with Persimmon,” it said.
“Increasing consumer confidence and Government initiatives such as ‘Help to Buy’ are playing a pivotal role in boosting the regional market, whilst the London and South East market continues to perform strongly.”
