Developer named to regenerate former Debenhams home

A developer has been appointed to regenerate Bedford town centre.

Cityheart has been awarded a contract to work on the Mayes Yard Quarter which was home to the old Debenhams building and the Beales department store.

Bedford Borough Council bought the Debenhams site for £1.8m in 2024. Proposals include bistros, cafes, and restaurants, flats, plus improved pedestrian links between St Paul's Square, Silver Street, High Street and The Higgins Museum.

Council cabinet member Andrea Spice said: "This is a significant transformation initiative for Bedford town centre and one the executive has been working hard on with officers."

Mayes Yard, a 3.5-acre space in the centre of Bedford, is home to the Corn Exchange entertainment venue. It is surrounded on three sides by retail units, including the Harpur Shopping Centre to the west and St Paul's Church in the south.

The old Debenhams building, which closed in 2021, is in the north-east corner on the High Street, while the Beales store was on the north-west corner on Harpur Street until it was vacated in 2020 when the company went into administration.

The town centre has also been hit by the closures of Marks and Spencer, Next and WH Smith in recent years.

At the time of the purchase Conservative mayor Tom Wootton said: "It was vital Bedford had something at the heart of it" after it had "sat empty for so long".

A year later, in 2025, the ground floor of the old Debenhams reopened as a visitor information centre, gift shop and box office for the Corn Exchange - part of an initial first phase of redevelopment.

The next phase is expected to focus on reusing and repurposing existing buildings including the Debenhams site and the library in Mayes Yard.

Spice said the appointment was a "major step" towards revitalising the area and part of a vision to create town centres that people are "proud to live in and excited to visit".

Last year, Bedford Borough Council said it planned to spend £2.5m on refurbishing the Corn Exchange, a Grade II listed building that dates back to 1874 and was used as a base for the BBC Symphony Orchestra during World War Two.

And, as part of the longer term regeneration of Mayes Yard, the Exchange could see an expansion of its auditorium from 800 to 1,200 seats and improvements to the Harpur Suite concert venue.

However, it also pulled out of buying the Lloyd's Bank building which had been earmarked for inclusion in the Mayes Yard development.

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