NEWTON Abbot’s leading retailer, Austins, has this week confirmed it has taken over the adjacent former Marks & Spencer building on the town’s Courtenay Street.

The Jobcentre Plus will remain on the ground floor as the Department for Work and Pensions has a four-year lease.

David Austin, managing director of Austins, said: ‘Austins are pleased to announce the acquisition of the freehold premises of the ex-Marks & Spencer Store in Courtenay Street.

‘While the building is currently occupied as a Job Centre Plus, the acquisition is not only a big vote of confidence in Newton Abbot town centre, but offers the prospect of the building, which was an important part of the high street for so many years, being returned to retail use at some point in the future.

‘Austins holds a very positive view about the future of the high street, and for Newton Abbot as a town overall.

‘The business started as a small shop in Newton Abbot in 1924 and is now the leading department store of the area.

‘This acquisition underlines the commitment that Austins have to taking their business forward, to sustaining and developing the employment and future of colleagues, and to their role as a part of strengthening and reviving the high street in Newton Abbot

‘The prospect of improving the retail offering in the high street is very real and exciting!’

Sally Henley, Newton Abbot town centre development manager said: ‘Knowing that the freehold of the building was coming up for auction, I hoped that there would be local interest.

‘It was therefore both exciting and reassuring to learn that Austins had bought the building, thus securing the continuing future of Courtenay Street as the town’s primary retail trading area.

‘Austins has invested in Newton Abbot regularly over the years; building up an impressive portfolio of owned stores around the Clock Tower.

‘This century old independent brand is a big footfall driver to our town and even more so in the last couple of years as the demise of Debenhams and House of Fraser has left many town and cities without a department store.

‘I very much look forward to a time when this building once more plays an active retail role in the heart of the town centre.’