TK Maxx back with Haymarket deal, after Piccadilly rejection

Discount fashion retailer TK Maxx is planning a London shop near Piccadilly Circus after being told it "wasn't posh enough" two years ago.

TK Maxx is in discussions with landlords to open a store on Haymarket, close to Piccadilly Circus in the former Burberry HQ building at Scotch House, 18-22 Haymarket.

In 2009, TK Maxx agreed a deal for a shop on the south side of Piccadilly Circus, but the freeholder, The Crown Estate, objected to the letting, deeming the retailer not good enough for the area. If it secures the deal to open a store at Haymarket it will be just yards away from the original site. The Crown Estate does not have any say over the letting of the Haymarket store.

The retailer has been scaling back on expansion after profits of its parent company, TJX Europe, fell by 52 per cent last year to £48.8m, but London is still a growth target.

The Haymarket building has had a colourful past. It was owned by Paul Kemsley's Rock group which was placed into administration in 2009. PricewaterhouseCoopers is the administrator and Jones Lang LaSalle is advising on its sale. There are now two parties vying to buy the building. TK Maxx is lined up to be the retail occupier when the sale is completed.