A FINANCIAL company has been given permission to expand into a vacant department store, creating more than 200 city centre jobs.

Provident Financial, based at 1 Godwin Street, has been given the green light to change the use of the neighbouring Godwin Street annexe of TJ Hughes, creating new office space, a staff restaurant and a roof terrace.

When it applied for planning permission for the expansion, the company told Bradford Council that it would see the number of staff based at the offices rise by 205.

TJ Hughes department store shut in 2011 as part of a wave of national closures after the company went into administration. It has since been one of the most prominent empty buildings in the city.

The expansion will not include the Grade II listed Sunwin House section of the building which dates back to the 1930s.

Ranges from three to four storeys, the annex was built in the 1960s as an expansion to the then Bradford Co-Operative Society department store.

The application was approved by the council this week, and includes a re-cladding of the building’s exterior.

Earlier this year the company announced it would be expanding and creating new jobs thanks to growth in its Satsuma short-term loans business and Glo guarantor backed lending business.

The application said: “The proposal upcycles a building, giving it a new use and refurbishes it for a minimum 40 years of further use.”

A spokesman for Provident said they were unable to say when work was due to start, as the application had only just been approved.

However when the application was first submitted, the company said the refurbishment would take around 12 months.

Councillor Alex Ross Shaw, executive for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, said: “Increasing the number of jobs in the city centre is a big priority for the council and it’s why we moved a thousand council employees into the centre as part of our efficiency programme.

“It’s good to see Provident’s plans move on to the next stage and it should also provide a boost to other businesses in the city centre like the new Sunbridge Wells development nearby.”

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