Wallis moves home but the arc is still 100 per cent let

The stand alone Wallis fashion shop in Bury St Edmunds arc closed this week but two new business are already lined up for the unit.

Wallis has moved into the nearby Debenhams department store and arc manager Colin Roberts said work is about to start in converting the vacant shop and a neighbouring unit into one large and one small unit.

He said he could not confirm who was moving into the two shops because the leases were still being finalised.

However, there have been strong rumours that the gourmet burger restaurant chain Byron has been trying to get into the arc. The chain has 37 restaurants in London and 13 around the country, including one in Cambridge. As we went to press, Byron had yet to respond.

With one business leaving and two arriving, it means the arc is 100 per cent let.

Mr Roberts said: “It’s a nice feeling – and they’re all long term leases, which is a miraculous achievement.

“It’s a fantastic thing to happen and it demonstrates the strength of Bury St Edmunds.”

Figures published on May 1 show that Bury town centre has 33 shop vacancies among 511 premises, which gives a vacancy rate of about 6.5 per cent.

Mr Roberts said that, nationally, a vacancy rate of five to 10 per cent is considered ‘healthy’.

The arc has three dozen shops ranging from top fashion and restaurant chains to specialists, such as Jessops for photography and Stormfront for Apple technology.