There’s going to be a new occupant for the former Marks & Spencer store at 25 Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough. The Ideal Home Department Store (IHDS) will open on 28 August. I paid a visit to the premises on a rainy June morning, to speak to some representatives of the company.
Welcome to your new store
Signs of the previous occupant are still prominent in the photo above. I met up with Dominic Tress and Alicia Burchell. Alicia confirmed that the company is interested in at least six former M&S stores throughout the UK. The Middlesbrough store will be the first one to open, followed by one at Stoke-on-Trent.
About that poster
The poster behind Dominic and Alicia gives the full details of Ideal Home’s offer.
Cafe upstairs
The former M&S store is a three-storey building, but IHDS will only occupy the ground and first floors only. The top floor will be made available for office use. There’s a former staff canteen up there. M&S used to operate a 150-seat cafe on the first floor. This will reopen in the hands of a yet-to-be named concessionaire. Dominic took me on a tour of the first floor. There are signs of water ingress here, but apart from this, the building remains in good condition.
Concessions
IHDS won’t be selling its own goods at this store. The company will offer concessions to smaller retailers. While I was there, Ted Ward, the proprietor, was in discussion with a potential occupant. This was the second of two visitor days held at the store, to allow journalists and retailers to see what’s on offer.
Hill Street Centre
The store will occupy a smaller footprint than the former M&S. This is because much of the ground floor, facing into the Hill Street Centre, has been sub-divided into three separate units, each facing into the centre. These units can be seen below.
Behind the shutters
However, the store will still have an entrance within the Hill Street Centre, in addition to the doors on Linthorpe Road. The shuttered entrance can be seen below.
An appeal to nostalgia
The Ideal Home Department Store has a familiar ring to it. Perhaps this is to remind shoppers of another lost retailer British Home Stores. The former M&S premises are being leased from Linthorpe 54 Limited, a vehicle for local property developer Nasser Din, and his business partner Furzana Iqbal.
Saving Linthorpe Road
The Middlesbrough Development Corporation (MDC) had plans for a £13mn ‘Investment Zone’ in this part of the town. However, these plans were put on hold in December 2025. The future of the MDC itself is now under review, and the Investment Zone isn’t going to happen. Most of the shops in this part of Linthorpe Road are empty.
Next store
On the other side of the road, the former Next store has been vacant for almost a year now. Older Teessiders will remember this as C&A. This store is also owned by Nasser Din’s Linthorpe 54 Limited.
Debenhams is empty
Heading towards Corporation Road/Newport Road, another two of Middlesbrough’s former pivotal stores are still unoccupied. Newhouses/Debenhams has been closed for more than five years now.
House of Fraser
On the other side of the intersection, the magnificent former Binns/House of Fraser stands a quiet guard. This store closed four years ago. Three years prior to closure, It was inexplicably bought from the Fraser Group by Middlesbrough Council under the guidance of Mayor Andy Preston. then transferred to the MDC. If, as seems likely, the MDC is wound up, the building will pass back into the ownership of the council. But despite several changes in ownership, there are no signs of life in the building.
A saturated market
So, several of the town’s former flagship stores can’t attract occupants. Maybe they could be subdivided into concession stores, just as with M&S. But there’s only so much that the market can take.
About Ideal Home Department Stores
Ideal Home Department Stores are being developed by Ted Ward, who has a chequered business history. Mr Ward has a history of business disasters which left him owing thousands of pounds to creditors. Ward was disqualified as a company director in March 2010.
Suspended sentence
Two years after being disqualified, and while being an undischarged bankrupt, Ted Ward set up Mega Mart in St Helens under a false name in January 2012. The false name was that of his uncle, Edward Pickering. At Liverpool Crown Court in 2014, Ward admitted two counts of running a business while being disqualified, and received a suspended prison sentence
Darwin Football Club
Ted Ward also ran the Darrener Newspaper in Darwin, Lancashire. Five local journalists at the paper won back unpaid wages from Ward, after a litany of excuses as to why the cash wasn’t forthcoming. He’s the former owner of Darwin Football Club, but is now barred from the ground.
Caveat emptor
There is a pattern to this activity. Ted Ward announces plans to revamp the large, unoccupied sites of former stores such as Debenhams, House of Fraser and Marks and Spencer. Town centre property owners and managers are desperate to breathe new life into these buildings, and will grasp any offer to do so. But, given the track record of Ted Ward, the lesson must be: Buyer beware.
