'It will be a big loss' - fears raised over future of one of Blackburn’s biggest flagship stores

The announcement that BHS, which has had a presence in the town for decades, has been placed into administration has led to concerns about the general state of the high street.

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Yesterday community leaders said the loss of an ‘anchor store’ such as BHS’s 17,000 square foot outlet on King William Street would be a ‘devastating blow’.

Blackburn and District Chamber of Trade president Tony Duckworth said if BHS was not saved it would leave ‘a big gap on our main shopping street which would be very difficult to fill’.

He said: “It is a worry that the Blackburn store may close.

“It would leave a big gap onto our main shopping street which would be very difficult to fill as it is very large store.

“If BHS closes and is not replaced it would be devastating blow to the town centre and regeneration plans for Blackburn’s retail area.

“I have no doubt The Mall are looking into this.”

BHS, one of Blackburn and Britain’s most iconic high street names entered into administration yesterday, putting 11,000 jobs at risk and threatening the closure of up to 164 stores.

They include the Blackburn branch, the only one in East Lancashire, which employs dozens of full and part-time staff.

Shoppers leaving the Blackburn store yesterday said closure would be a ‘blow to the town’.

Clitheroe pensioner Jennifer Smith, 75, said: “BHS is one of the main reasons I travel to Blackburn to do some shopping.

“I’ve been coming here for 25 years or more.

“It will be a big loss.”

Margaret Bleasdale, 71, from Oswaldtwistle, and husband, 74-year-old husband Barry, have shopped at the store for more than 20 years.

She said: “BHS has been here for years.

“It’s good to have one in Blackburn.

“It will be a big blow for older people; the generation who don’t really shop online.”

Blackburn with Darwen Council’s regeneration boss, Cllr Phil Riley, admitted failure to keep the store occupied would be ‘a setback’ to council plans to redevelop the centre of the town around the recently-completed £34 million Cathedral Quarter, Blackburn Business Improvement District (BID) director Phil Ainsworth said closure would be a ‘devastating blow’ and hoped Mall and council bosses were already working to ensure the space remained filled.

Cllr Riley said: “We are concerned about the future of a prominent site in Blackburn.

“We will be watching developments with the ownership of BHS.

“If the store closes, it would be a set back to to our plans for the regeneration of the town centre.”

Mr Ainsworth, a director of the family-owned jewellers on Darwen Street, said: “If the town’s BHS store closed it would be devastating blow to Blackburn.

“It is a big store and I would hope with the the current positivity in the borough it would be possible to replace BHS there.

“I am sure The Mall are looking into it.”

Fernhurst Cllr John Slater said: “My main concern is the future of its 50-odd staff.

“I am hopeful that the administrator can find a buyer and the Blackburn store will remain open.

“If not, it is something we will have to look at in the future.”

East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce chief executive Mike Damms said: “This is obviously very sad for the staff.

“There is now the chance to find a new tenant in tune with the modern shopping environment in an anchor site in Blackburn.”

BHS was bought last year by a consortium called Retail Acquisitions, headed by Dominic Chappell, for £1 from retail entrepreneur Sir Philip Green.

Administrators Duff and Phelps said: “The group will continue to trade as usual whilst the administrators seek to sell it as a going concern.”

A spokesperson for Captial and Regional who took over The Mall complete with BHS store in 2004, said: “We have been working on alternative asset management plans for the BHS units in our schemes since the change of ownership in early 2015.”

John Hannett, general secretary of the shopworkers’ union Usdaw, said: “This is devastating news for the employees of BHS.”