A MAJOR Bradford thoroughfare will be left with another empty unit when a fashion store closes its doors.

Bonmarche, which has had a presence in the city centre for a number of years, is due to close its Market Street store the week after next.

The retailer collapsed into administration back in October. It became yet another victim of the high street downturn after a “sustained period of challenging trading conditions”, administrators said.

The brand had struggled with rising costs, such as business rates and rising wages, as well as dwindling footfall on UK High streets. More than 16,000 of Britain’s embattled high street shops - around 61 every working day - pulled down their shutters for the final time in 2019, research has found.

During 2019, large retailers with 10 or more stores closed 5,901 shops, a leap of 79 per cent on the 3,303 stores that they closed in 2018, according to the Centre for Retail Research’s “retail in crisis” end-of-year report.

Professor Joshua Bamfield, director at the Centre for Retail Research, anticipates another tough year ahead for high streets.

He said: “The commercial pressures of higher labour costs, business rates and relatively weak demand will continue to undercut profits and force the weakest companies to close stores or enter administration. The high street and suburbs will continue to decline.”

Market Street has been hit by a number of closures in the past year including Patisserie Valerie, Five Guys and independent chocolate shop La Fronda. Despite the closures, there is some hope on the horizon.

The sizeable corner unit once home to Patisserie Valerie was taken on by Tiffin Coffee for its new venture Tiffin Coffee Grande.

There are also plans afoot to open a new bank in the old Five Guys unit and the one next it, which used to be Bright House before it moved around the corner to Broadway.

Plans were approved in September last year for the Metro Bank, marking one of its first Yorkshire branches.

A new, independent, florist is also tipped to open next month in the old Thornton’s unit, most recently occupied by La Fronda. Bradford Council’s Executive discussed a petition to pedestrianise Market Street at a recent meeting. However, since the petition has been presented to the Council, a wider plan for the city centre, including the pedestrianisation of Market Street and Hall Ings, has been revealed.

The works would make up part of the Transforming Cities Fund bid, made by West Yorkshire Combined Authority to the government. The Executive was told that a traffic model had been drawn up to see how it would impact traffic. It found the work could improve journey times with bus routes re-directed.

Councillor Alex Ross Shaw said: “This is an exciting opportunity. The first meeting I had as portfolio holder for regeneration was with businesses on that street to discuss pedestrianisation. It would make it easier for people to get across the city centre. The key concerns is how do we maintain bus services. We talk about trains and cycling, but more people use buses. I’m pleased to see we can deliver pedestrianisation and still improve bus times.”