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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Sarah Butler

How town centres are recovering from the fall of Debenhams

Debenhams Chris Cooke House of Fraser Mark Robinson Middlesbrough United Kingdom Flannels Frasers Lichfields Marks Spencer
A computer generated impression of plans for the redevelopment of the Grafton Centre in Cambridge – a former Debenhams site
A computer generated impression of plans for the redevelopment of the Grafton Centre in Cambridge – a former Debenhams site. Photograph: The Pioneer Group

Science labs, parks, health centres and community arts hubs, lecture halls, bowling alleys and even a submarine training centre.

Former Debenhams stores across the UK are being reinvented with a dizzying array of new uses as councils and landlords battle to fill millions of square feet of space left empty after the demise of the department store chain in May 2021.

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