There is hope future tenants will be secured for the former BHS store in Chester city centre.

The property company marketing the huge premises has confirmed talks are taking place with potential end users interested in the Foregate Street premises, which closed in August 2016.

A likely scenario is the property would be sub-divided into a number of units as happened with the former M&S menswear store which became Wilko, River Island and Steak ‘n Shake.

Mike Willoughby, a partner in Green and Partners, with a specialism in retail, told The Chronicle: “We are in discussions with a number of retailers and those discussions continue.”

BHS on Foregate Street pictured in the 1970s
BHS on Foregate Street pictured in the 1970s

He agreed splitting up the large unit was the ‘most likely’ option.

BHS was plunged into crisis in April 2016 when it went into administration, triggering a lengthy and ultimately unsuccessful bidding process to find a buyer.

Administrators later confirmed the 88-year-old department store group would be wound down leading to 11,000 redundancies and 64 store closures.

A number of offers for the chain were received but none were accepted due to the amount of money needed to secure its future.

“Despite the considerable efforts of the administrators and BHS senior management, it has not been possible to agree a sale of the business,” said joint administrators Philip Duffy and Benjamin Wiles in a statement released at the time.

Mr Duffy added that BHS was ‘another victim’ of the ‘seismic shifts’ the changing British high street was experiencing.

“The tireless work and goodwill of the existing management team and employees of BHS with the support of my team were not enough to change the fortunes of the company,” he said.

The BHS closure was the biggest collapse on the British high street since Woolworths in 2008.