Hopes for town after former House of Fraser sold

The sale of a major high street building in a Surrey town could help surrounding retailers to thrive by bringing in more shopping day trippers, a business group boss says.

Guildford's House of Fraser building, with entrances in the High Street and North Street, was bought by Moretons Investments after a three-year closure which residents say has left a hole in the town's retail offering.

Following the sale, Amanda Masters, chief executive of the Experience Guildford business improvement district, said new retailers could benefit the town's premium shops.

On the sale, she said: "It's brilliant news. I am just very pleased to have something happening with it."

She said she could not see any one retailer taking over the whole space "because it's not viable anymore" but that she would love to see "some premium offerings on the ground floor".

Masters added: "We have passed the era of a standard department store really, but it's a really important part of our town centre, and other brands and boutiques benefitted from having it there."

The House of Fraser building has been closed since 2023 but was purchased by retail investors Moretons earlier this year.

Guildford shoppers told BBC Radio Surrey they would want something which would "benefit the community", and that "anchors the high street" in a similar way to House of Fraser.

Jason Freeman said the site being empty was "not a good thing for the high street", and that department stores were "less where people want to shop".

But Lee Donnelly said the site had been "closed for too long" and that it should be somewhere which is "nice to have a browse around".

No indication has yet been given about what could take over the site, either as a whole or broken up into smaller shopping units.

John Rigg, of the Guildford Vision Group which lobbies the council to improve the town centre, said: "What is going to happen to the House of Fraser building is the one question I get the most - the community has been really concerned about it.

"It's a great relief, but clearly it's a very uncomfortable time in the property market.

"They have all the unfavourable headwinds to cope with, but I think they are going to have ideas."

Guildford Borough Council deputy leader Vanessa King said the council remained "committed to supporting a thriving town centre and retail sector".

She added the council hoped the new owners would "consider the needs of the local community alongside the changing needs of the retail sector as they consider the building's future".

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