Billionaire tycoon Mike Ashley has links to numerous vacant retail units in Dundee which have lain empty for a total of nearly 13 years.
Frasers Group, which is owned by Mr Ashley, bought the city’s Overgate Centre in 2023 and are expected to open a House of Fraser in the shopping centre’s former Debenhams store later this year.
But an investigation by The Courier into who owns Dundee’s vacant retail units can reveal the business giant also has strong links to three of the city centre’s long-term empty store spaces.
The Courier has been tracking Dundee’s empty retail units for almost a year.
Eighteen property deeds purchased by The Courier show that closed shops on Reform Street and Murraygate are owned by companies called SDI (Dundee) Limited and SDI (Dundee 2) Ltd.
Both companies are registered to an address at Unit A, Brook Park East, Shirebrook – which is the same address as Mr Ashley’s businesses Sports Direct and Fraser Group.
It is also the site of Sports Direct International – SDI.
The three empty Dundee retail units
The retail unit linked to the businessman which has been empty the longest is 14 Reform Street.
The shop has been vacant for more than five years – its most recent occupant was Amplifon, an Italian-based hearing aid retailer, who closed their doors in January 2019.
SDI (Dundee 2) Ltd bought the property in March 2023, the same month it was reported that Frasers Group purchased the Overgate Centre.
The other two vacant properties are 60 Murraygate and 48-60 Murraygate, which have been unoccupied for 4.3 and 3.5 years, respectively.
Bought in 2017, the units were the sites of the former Tesco Metro and DW Sports and were registered with a worth of £3.5 million.
Tesco Metro was controversially closed in November 2019 after landlord Sports Direct refused to renew the lease on the building, putting 78 jobs at risk.
Workers were given less than three months’ notice that the shop would close with both Tesco and Sports Direct blaming each other for the situation.
Unfulfilled promise of new store
Sports Direct claimed that their reason for refusing to renew the lease was to fulfil plans for a new shop of their own.
The company said it would open a Sports Direct and USC store on the site by the end of 2020.
In a letter to Dundee City Council Leader John Alexander, a spokesperson for the company said: “Refurbishment works will begin in December 2019 with the new store set to open in winter 2020.
“This is a major part of Sports Direct’s brand elevation strategy which will see a huge investment in a number of new stores, while upgrading and improving existing sites across the UK.”
More than three years later, the unit remains closed and no new Sports Direct or USC shops have materialised.
In December 2023, plans were lodged for Poundland signs to be erected at the unit.
The plans were approved in February.
When contacted for comment, Frasers Group failed to respond.
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