The fashion group is said to be in discussions with prospective buyers for the 43,963 sq ft office block at 10 Great Pulteney Street, Drapers reported.

It is understood that Boohoo will pursue a sale and leaseback transaction as it plans to remain in the building.

The five-storey office block houses 400 to 500 employees across Boohoo’s London-based brands such as Burton, Coast, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Karen Millen, Oasis, and Wallis, as well as other product, marketing, technology and central support roles across the group.

The building currently houses a beauty showroom on the ground floor and will soon welcome a new 6,000 sq ft group showroom in the next few months following the closure of its 3,500 sq ft venue at 6 to10 Great Portland Street.

It comes as the group’s lenders are understood to have drafted in advisers at FTI Consulting to discuss refinancing options for part of Boohoo’s £325m debt.

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Writing in The Telegraph, Katherine Russell, the director of build-to-rent at the John Lewis Partnership, said the Chancellor “should look at tax incentives… where a developer commits to building right away”.

She also asked the Government to cut red tape for builders to help the industry meet Labour’s goal of building 1.5m new homes over this parliament.

Russell warned that construction has stalled across the country even as “most people accept the drastic need for new housing”.

“Many good schemes… still continue to be refused,” she added.

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John Lewis is aiming to push into property by building rental homes above its shops.

Last week, the retailer was given the green light to transform its Waitrose site in Bromley, south-east London into a new residential community of 353 rental homes as well as a modernised store.

Russell told the Telegraph that “cutting red tape” would speed up investment in new housing, as would spending the billions of pounds worth of unused development levies.

However, research by the House Building Federation last year found £2.8bn was currently sitting unspent.

It estimated that the property industry pays more than £7bn in direct taxes each year.

The call for tax breaks comes after Labour kicked off a drive last week to get Britain building in a bid to fast-track thousands more first-time buyers onto the property ladder.

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Since the business behind the fashion retailer’s UK arm, No Ordinary Designer Label, collapsed in March, 15 shops have closed, however all remaining store staff have been told they will lose their jobs, according to The Sun.

It is understood that despite the message to employees, the plans have not been finalised.

Ted Baker had 46 UK stores and employed about 975 people before its collapse.

Authentic Brands, the US group behind brands including David Beckham, Reebok, and Hunter, owns Ted Baker’s intellectual property and has been hunting for a new partner to run the brand’s retail and online business in the UK and Europe.

Next and Frasers had been in the running but The Sun reports that Frasers has pulled out of talks.

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Hammerson said it would earn around £600m from the deal with the newly formed company, which was established by affiliates of private equity firm L Catterton.

It added that the sale, which is expected to complete in the second half of this year, would allow the group to focus on its unique prime urban real estate, reduce debt, reinvest in higher yielding opportunities, and return capital to shareholders.

Hammerson initially explored a sale of its almost 40% holding in Value Retail in November.

The property firm’s CEO Rita-Rose Gagné said: “This is a transformational deal for Hammerson, generating cash proceeds of c.£600m whilst removing an overweight, low yielding and minority stake, and positioning us for growth and value creation.

“The disposal focuses our portfolio on prime urban real estate with a capital structure set for growth and significant capacity to advance our strategy in higher yielding opportunities, whilst enhancing returns to shareholders.”

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The 770,000sq ft shopping centre is located within the town centre, welcoming over 16m customers a year, and houses retailers such as Next, H&M and TK Maxx.

Frasers said the deal provides an opportunity to more than triple the size of its Sports Direct shop to over 35,000sq ft and introduce more of its brands – USC, Game and Evans Cycles – into the store.

The group’s chief executive Michael Murray said: “The acquisition of Frenchgate Shopping Centre in Doncaster further demonstrates the group’s commitment to investing into brick-and-mortar.

“Acquiring property in key trading locations to unlock new opportunities for our retail and leisure businesses, such as Sports Direct, Everlast Gyms, Frasers and Flannels, is a key priority.

“We are committed to re-inventing retail and injecting new life into high streets across the UK to bring the very best brands, environment, and experience to customers across the country.”

It comes as Frasers is thought to be in talks to buy the Princesshay shopping centre in Exeter, which is a joint venture between US-based asset manager, Nuveen and the Crown Estate.

Nuveen put its 50% share in the development earlier this year, with a reported price tag of £40m.

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Ingka Investments revealed on Monday it had invested in 570 Fifth Avenue, which is currently being built into a new Class-A retail and office tower by Extell Development.

It said that part of the building’s 80,000sq ft retail space arranged over two large cellar levels will include Ikea’s small format ‘Customer Meeting Point’ concept.

The retailer’s US chief executive and chief sustainability officer Javier Quiñones said: “This next phase of our investment and expansion in the US signals our commitment to bring Ikea closer to people in city centres.

“While we are in the very early stages of planning for the Ikea location, we can promise to deliver an experience that is full of inspiration and designed to meet the home furnishing dreams of the many New Yorkers.”

The tower is scheduled for tenant delivery in 2028 and Ingka said the building will “exemplify high sustainability standards and low carbon operation principles”.

Ingka will hold a one-third stake in the project including full ownership of the retail space, while Extell will retain two-thirds.

The investment forms part of Ingka’s strategy to evolve its retail operations by adapting to urban growth and introducing innovative formats in city centres.

Last year, the group acquired its second UK shopping centre, Churchill Square in Brighton, in a deal estimated to be worth £145m. It is set to open an Ikea store in the centre.

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Some 99% of creditors by value green lit the plan, which aims to stave off administration of the fashion retailer.

Teneo senior managing director Gavin Maher said: “Having 99% of those creditors that voted being in favour means that the plan company has achieved an important milestone in securing creditor support for the restructuring plan.”

The retailer has pinned its revival hopes on gaining rent reductions across 39 UK stores, an equity raise underwritten by founder Julian Dunkerton, and delisting from the stock market. The restructuring is a formal procedure under the Companies Act for companies in financial difficulties.

Superdry said each element of the package is inter-conditional upon the others, meaning that each step of the proposals need to be approved.

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The plan, which does not include any store closures, is the latest throw of the dice by Dunkerton after a possible take-private deal fell through earlier this year. It will result in “material cash savings from rent and business rate compromises” over the three years of its restructuring plan.

Superdry said it was “grateful for the support shown” by its creditors. Its shareholders will now vote on the equity raise and delisting at Superdry’s general meeting on Friday (14 June).

“The board unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favour of the resolutions,” it added.

If the resolutions are passed, the High Court will be asked to sanction the restructuring plan at a hearing on 17 June.

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The retailer is filing an appeal on grounds of ‘non-determination’ as the proposals are still being reviewed by Ealing Council.

The partnership is aiming to be on site in late 2025 and complete its redevelopment work in 2029.

The proposals, which JLP is requesting is considered by a planning inspector, comprises of 428 homes – including 83 affordable rental homes – and shared areas for fitness, work and socialising, as well as more than 36,500sq ft of green space.

John Lewis said it believes in the “broad-reaching benefits in creating vital new housing and a community space in West Ealing, while investing further into our retail estate”.

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It said it was confident that an appeal will grant permission for the redevelopment and that it will continue to work closely with the council and local community to deliver on social and charitable initiatives should the plans go ahead.

JLP director of build-to-rent Katherine Russell said: “We have taken the decision to appeal for non-determination of our planning application to build new rental homes nearly one year on from first submitting it to Ealing Council.

“Our proposals will create hundreds of homes at a time when all political parties agree there’s a desperate need for more housing and local investment to spur economic growth, with a priority on brownfield land.

“An appeal is not something we take lightly, however, we believe we have strong grounds to be successful given the opportunity to transform an under-used brownfield site close to the publicly-funded Crossrail station with new homes and investment that will benefit the wider community.”

James Dunne, head of operational real estate at Abrdn, which has a £500m joint venture with JLP, added: “We remain fully committed to our strategy of creating thousands of critically needed quality rental homes alongside John Lewis Partnership and look forward to the outcome of the ongoing due process in West Ealing.”

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An spokesman for the retailer added that the store “would deliver a much-needed boost for Oxford Street and send a clear message to developers that regeneration of our towns and cities is a clear priority”.

Machin has been outspoken about the current plight of Oxford Street. Back in 2022, he said: “When I walk down Oxford Street today, I see a stark reality staring back at me. One in five shops sit vacant, there is a growing proliferation of tacky candy stores and near £600,000 of counterfeit goods have been seized from hawkers this year.

“The effects of Covid have brought a street that was once the jewel of UK shopping to its knees.”

M&S’ redevelopment has been supported by fellow retail giants Selfridges and Ikea.

The furniture giant’s UK country manager Peter Jelkeby said: “With Ikea having recently committed to a significant investment at Oxford Circus and preparing to open our newest London store next year, we are delighted to see the proposal from Marks and Spencer.”

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The party said it would replace the current system with a new one that will “level the playing field between the high street and online giants”. However, it did not go into detail about what the new system will entail.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said that “hard-working small businesses have been held back” by the current system and criticised the Conservatives’ failure to “fix” it.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves told the BBC that Labour “want to reform the business rate system in a way that reduces the costs for small businesses and high streets, ensuring that some of the big multinationals and tech companies pay their fair share”.

The business rates system has long been criticised as unfair and in need of reform by retail leaders. Just last week, bosses including Majestic CEO John Colley and Card Factory’s Darcy Willson-Rymer told Retail Gazette the next government needs to tackle the much-maligned tax.

Colley said: “The business rates regime is a perennial problem that has become archaic in a world of multichannel retailing, and has been a contributing factor in the demise of a number of bricks-and-mortar businesses over the last few years. Retailers have long been calling for fundamental reform of this tax and I would urge the next government to finally deliver on this.”

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Labour has also pledged to help the high street by tackling anti-social behaviour through the introduction of new town centre police patrols.

The party’s manifesto will also include laws that stamp down on violence against shop workers. It comes as shoplifting reached the highest level since records began last year, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Labour has long campaigned with shop workers union Usdaw to make violence against shop workers a stand-alone offence. The government agreed to include this in the Criminal Justice bill this year, however, it was ditched when Rishi Sunak called the election last month.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper vowed to make this law if Labour is elected. She told The Mirror: “Labour is determined we will pass a new law to make a specific offence of assaults and abuse against shop workers and to make sure it’s taken seriously by the police.”

Cooper also said the party wants to stop the police ignoring thefts under £200, which has led to shoplifters aiming to take goods just under that threshold before moving on to different stores.

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