Corby's high street bounceback - with new store openings in progress and with more to come, the Northamptonshire town is bucking the trend

A glut of new store openings in Corby and talks over other empty units could see the town centre at near 100 per cent occupancy during the next few months.

While other high streets around the country are struggling, Corby appears to be bucking the national trend. And though others have pivoted to leisure over retail, Corby has retained its shopping offer.

A new clothing store, Utopia Womenswear, which has several other outlets around the UK, will open next week in the former Robert Goddard unit in Willow Place, meaning one of the town’s two major shopping thoroughfares will be fully let-out for the first time in several years. It comes on the back of the TJ Hughes opening in three empty Arcadia units last month.

In adjacent Corporation Street, optician Frames is about to launch its large new store in the former Yours shop. A second empty unit in Corporation Street, next to The Works, is also under offer to a new business that is totally new to Corby.

The former Brighthouse and NHS vaccination centre in Spencer Court are also in the midst of contract negotiations, as is the former Coral shop in George Street. An empty glass-fronted shop in New Post Office Square will become barber shop The Cut Lab.

In Market Walk, the new £9m sixth form college that will house hundreds of students in the heart of the town centre, is on target for completion for its September opening.

Town centre manager Dan Pickard, who has been in his post for 16 years, says that Corby is now back in a great position.

"Our lettings team have been so busy during the past year,” he said.

"When Utopia opens in a few days that will be us full in Willow Place, which is a great place to be.

"The TJ Hughes is doing very well and the college opening is on track.

"We’re under discussion for a further three units in the rest of the town and there are contracts signed for other units.

"Out of 170 shops that we manage, all bar two are either let, under offer or in legal negotiations.”

Corby town centre is unique in that it is totally owned and managed by a private company since it was sold lock, stock and barrel, by the Commission for New Towns to Tops Estates in the 1990s. It has changed hands several times and was most recently sold in November 2022 as part of a £76m deal to London-based Northdale Asset Management and US investor Magnetar Capital.

The two main streets were also fully pedestrianised decades before it became standard and there has been ongoing investment in the centre, even during economic downturns.

Dan added: “Retailers are looking for space that is affordable and that have a loyal catchment.

"We are quite picky and we only let to retailers when we know there’s capacity for that type of shop. We know what works and what doesn’t so generally we don’t really have that high a churn rate compared to other towns.

"Bricks and mortar retailing is never going to go away.

"We’re really happy with the current position. The sixth form building is being fitted-out and the entrance is nearly complete.

“That’s going to bring a lot of footfall into the centre every day.”

The largest empty unit in the town is the former Littlewoods / TJ Hughes unit in Queen’s Square. That site is owned by Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group after it was sold four years ago. A Sports Direct was due to open there but that fell by the wayside during the pandemic. Since then, the firm has kept the unit shuttered and their long-term plans for it are unknown.