A NEW Marks and Spencer store will be created on The Rock and send Bury soaring up the national shopping league.
M&S will leave the Mill Gate centre and take up a custom-built site twice its current size, and one of the largest in the region.
The move, which means Marks will join Debenhams in the £300 million Rock Triangle development, will mean Bury rises up the retail league from 159th position to 62nd.
It puts the town among the likes of Middlesbrough and Canterbury - and ten places above neighbouring Bolton.
And spending in the town is forecast to jump by 56 per cent, to £350 million. Residents can inspect the latest plans for The Rock at an exhibition held tomorrow and Saturday. The Bury Times understands that Marks were intending to leave Bury entirely, which Rock developers Thornfield say would have been a major blow to the town and to their plans.
But discussions went to the highest level, as M&S chief executive Stuart Rose is an old friend of Jason Marcus, Thornfield's boss.
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A spokesman for M&S confirmed that they had agreed "heads of terms" with Thornfield to relocate to a new 53,000 sq ft store on The Rock, double the 20,000 sq ft store it now occupies. It will trade on two levels, next to Debenhams, and incorporate a cafe/restaurant in the new public square to be built at the heart of the scheme.
A report by national independent consultants CACI says that more Bury people are shopping in Manchester, Bolton and Trafford than in Bury.
Thornfield say the decision by M&S to stay means that many quality stores will be attracted to the town, not only creating jobs but keeping money in Bury rather than it going elsewhere. The company was also keen to stress that it did not "steal" M&S from the Mill Gate, but were approached by the store.
Jason Marcus said: "Marks and Spencer is a great asset to Bury and we are delighted to be working with them to ensure they stay in the town for many years to come.
"The proposed changes to the scheme are relatively small but enable us to better meet the needs of the council, new and proposed occupiers, and most importantly, local people."
A planning application will be submitted later this summer and, if approved, the new M&S (and the Debenhams) should be open by autumn 2010. It is expected that M&S will continue trading in the Mill Gate centre until that time.
The change means that more apartments will be built into the scheme, along with extra car parking spaces.
The whole redevelopment, as already announced, will mix flats and shops with a ten-screen Vue cinema, bowling alley, a bingo hall, and restaurants and cafes. Work is about to start on building a new health centre for 40,000 patients.
Councillors and various town centre partners were being briefed on the proposals last night.
Council leader Bob Bibby said: "The potential for this new enlarged Marks and Spencer within the development will allow them scope to expand and will guarantee that they remain in the town, which is surely good news for everyone."
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