Concerns grow for Buxton's high street as prominent shop shuts for several days

Simpson Furniture, which took over part of the former Marks & Spencer building in spring gardens earlier this year, appears to have been shut since last week, with a notice in the window stating it is “closed due to exceptional circumstances beyond our control.”

When this newspaper tried to contact the business, we found that the shop’s phone line was not working, calls to the company’s headquarters in Heywood, Greater Manchester, were not answered and there had been no update to its social media accounts since November 3.

The company had not responded to the Advertiser’s requests for comment at the time of writing, and there has been no update to the Companies House listing for Simpson Furniture (Bury) Limited. A Simpson Furniture (NW) Limited with the same address and director was dissolved in 2019.

A member of staff at a neighbouring Buxton business said shoppers were very concerned.

Although the shop backs on to the Springs Shopping Centre, the building is under separate ownership. When it opened in April, Simpson had signed a ten-year lease and was welcomed by residents for breathing new life into one of the town’s largest retail properties, which had stood empty since M&S closed in 2019.

The latest uncertainty comes at a time when residents have been calling for more diverse and high-quality shopping opportunities.

A London property investor is still seeking to convert the upper floors of the building into a hotel, with the planning application (HPK/2021/0731) under consideration by High Peak Borough Council. A separate application for a café area on the ground floor was withdrawn in September.

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