Wykeland Group has secured a new occupier for a vacant retail unit in Hull city centre just days after announcing it had acquired the building.

The Hull-based commercial developer and property owner has let the 35,000 sq ft former New Look unit in Whitefriargate to growing retailer Durham Bed Centre.

The Hull store will be the latest opening by Durham Bed Centre outside its heartland in the North East where it has seven stores and is the region’s largest independent bed and furniture retailer, wholesaler and manufacturer.

The expansion of the business across the North of England has also seen Durham Bed Centre open stores in Leeds, Warrington in Cheshire, and Bootle on Merseyside.

Durham Bed Centre is known for selling high-quality British-made products at low prices and will stock a wide range of beds, sofas and other furniture at the Whitefriargate store, which is due to open on 15 June.

It means the unit will be open for the first time since the New Look fashion store closed in March this year under a UK-wide consolidation programme.

It will also ensure the 42,000 sq ft building that the unit forms part of will once again be fully occupied, as music and entertainment retailer HMV is also due to re-open following its temporary closure because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Wykeland announced the acquisition of the building and also the neighbouring 60,000 sq ft former Marks and Spencer store in Whitefriargate last week.

Wykeland Property Director David Donkin said: “The arrival of Durham Bed Centre will bring additional footfall to Whitefriargate as shops and other businesses re-open following the Covid-19 disruption.

“We’re very pleased to have brought this vacant unit back to life so quickly. This reflects the short-term strategy we envisaged when making these acquisitions, while we consider the longer-term re-purposing of the buildings as part of a broader picture of regeneration and reinvention for Whitefriargate and Hull city centre.”

For further information on Durham Bed Centre go to www.durhambedcentre.co.uk or www.facebook.com/durhambedcentre