New development at Sanderson Arcade in Morpeth to include three retailers but department store will close as a result

Sandersons is the retail arm of Dransfield Properties – the company that owns and manages the Arcade, as well as a number of other award-winning retail developments across the UK.

It is in a prime location at the development, a unit covering a total of 8,895 sq ft overlooking a large town centre car park. It opened in October 2020, taking up the empty space created when New Look closed during the pandemic.

The company has taken the decision to now create three new retail units in this particular area of the shopping centre in response to a growing demand at Sanderson Arcade from a number of high-quality operators.

The independent lifestyle store Oliver Bonas and luxury brand The White Company will be moving into the newly remodelled space – a move which will also see an overall increase in jobs.

A third unit with a new entrance opposite the town’s bus station is also being created, with an announcement due in the coming weeks.

The 12 members of staff at Sandersons have all been told of the plans to close the store. The company’s management team is working with the incoming businesses on job opportunities at the new stores.

Founder and chairman of Dransfield Properties and Sandersons department store, Mark Dransfield, said: “We are really proud of what we have achieved and of the great team of people we have worked with.

“Three years later after opening we find ourselves in the position of having more demand than retail space at the Arcade. It hasn’t been an easy decision to make – but we have always prided ourselves on being an agile business, able to respond to changing circumstances.

“It is the right thing for the town and for the Arcade to move aside and create three new shop units for the town centre. This development not only delivers a new and different retail mix, but also more jobs than our current unit supports.”

Sandersons has started its closing-down sale ahead of closing in March. Construction work on the new units will then start, ready for the new stores opening in the spring.