New retailer bids to take over vacant units at forgotten Aylesbury shopping park

B&M has applied to take over units 1, 2, and 3 at Vale Retail Park after Lidl’s withdrawal at the end of 2023.

Previously, Bucks Council had approved planning permission for a large Lidl store at the shopping park. But, now it is moving in a new direction, stating that it had run into previously unforeseen ‘issues’ around the construction of the budget supermarket.

Lidl acknowledged it was no longer moving into the shopping park when approached by The Bucks Herald, but has declined to disclose the reasons why. Work has begun on constructing a third Lidl supermarket in Aylesbury, with the growing supermarket brand opening a new store at the former Stratstone Land Rover showroom on Buckingham Road.

Bucks Council had trumpeted Lidl’s arrival referring to the German-owned company as a ‘major’ retailer that would act as a key ‘anchor store’ in the authority’s efforts to regenerate the neglected shopping site in 2022.

It was hoped that the Lidl supermarket would be opened by 2023, with the budget retailer planning to vacate Aylesbury Shopping Park, where it currently has an operational supermarket, during the process.

Also, the council’s regeneration plan drew criticism in 2021, after it emerged that the authority was contributing £1.8m towards the supermarket chain to facilitate the move. Units 1-3 at the shopping park was the long-term home for Mothercare in Aylesbury, which shut for good in 2019. But during the pandemic local grocery company, Fruity Tooty Fresh Foods, operated in the industrial space until the council demanded staff leave to make way for its high profile retailer.

Bucks Council has confirmed to The Bucks Herald that the money offered to Lidl will be re-allocated towards B&M if the home improvement chain takes over the units.

B&M’s masterplan can be viewed on the council’s planning portal online here. Research from the variety chain says that 48 part-time and 11 full-time jobs would be created as a result of the project.

B&M is willing to take on the 1,954 sq.m area and open one of its stores at the site, citing a lack of other vacant properties in Aylesbury that could accommodate one of its stores given the size of the products it stocks.

Currently, the variety retailer is seeking a change to the planning proposals approved for Lidl regarding the sale of food, with B&M considering the ability to sell foods as an ‘integral’ part of its business model.

Unlike Lidl, a representative for B&M stated the company had no plans to shut its current store in the nearby Aylesbury Shopping Park. This would leave Aylesbury with two large stores belonging to the company within 500m of one another.

Vale Retail Park’s popularity has diminished in recent years, with several units at the site remaining vacant for a significant amount of time. It was revealed in a council meeting held last December that Pets At Home, one of the few businesses still operating at the site, wants to leave unless progress was made in filling those vacant units.