Fenwick off to Bracknell

One of the UK’s oldest department store chains is to open its first new outlet in more than a decade as part of a major redevelopment of a rundown town in Berkshire.

Fenwick is in talks to open a new store in Bracknell as part of a £750m development by Legal & General Property and Schroders.

Fenwick, which has 11 shops including its New Bond Street flagship store, is still wholly owned by the family that founded the chain in Newcastle 131 years ago.

The notoriously private group is run by chairman Mark Fenwick, great-grandson of the founder. The family is estimated to be worth £473m.

The group last launched a new store in 2003 in Canterbury. The Bracknell store should open when the shopping centre is built, sometime in 2016.

The group acquired the Bentalls group of stores in 2001, with shops in Kingston, Surrey, and Bracknell. The Bracknell branch of Bentalls will close and relocate as part of the new development.

The scheme, which is being let by agents Lunson Mitchenall and CBRE, has already attracted a raft of retailers, including Marks & Spencer.