Plans for new Premier Inn in old M&S shop welcomed

Whitbread, the parent company to chain hotel Premier Inn, has announced it has purchased the former Marks & Spencer store in South Street with the aim of opening a 100-bed hotel.

The plans mean that new life will be breathed into Dorchester's shopping district - which has suffered the recent loss of shops including M & Co and Clintons - and with the hotel's opening will come the potential spending power of its guests.

Phil Gordon, of the Dorchester Business Improvement District, said: ”I’m absolutely delighted to hear the news. We were all crushed when M&S decided to close one of their most profitable stores in the south west.

“However I think this is probably about the best we can hope for in terms of what’s going to happen in its place.

“I know that accommodation is tight in terms of hotel rooms in Dorchester especially when there’s an event going on and it has been for some time."

Mr Gordon said the Premier Inn plans, which would be the second Premier Inn to open in the county town are 'great news for all the businesses in town'.

"A hundred rooms means 100 people times two or three in some cases coming to Dorchester and right on their doorstep they’ll be using all the shops, cafes, pubs and services," he said.

“I very much hope that all the local authorities will be supportive and expedite the transformation from empty crumbling building to demolished and refurbished Phoenix from the ashes.

“It’s looking like a bright future for the town.”

The former M&S store in South Street, Dorchester, is currently used as a charity drop-in centre and displays photographs of Dorchester people in its windows Picture: Graham Hunt Photography (Image: Graham Hunt Photography)

Steve Bulley, Vice President of the Dorchester Chamber for Business, said the Chamber welcomes the news.

He said: “The store has been empty for some time and we welcome investment in the town centre that will bring in business for the traders and attractions Dorchester has to offer."

Marks & Spencer closed its doors in Dorchester in February 2020 and the building has since been used as the Living Room, a charity drop-in centre.

News of this future plan for a vacant M&S building in Dorset come just after the retail chain announced it is quitting its Weymouth town centre store to move to the Weymouth Gateway Retail Park.