BELFAST'S flagship Primark store is set to reopen at the start of November, ahead of the Christmas rush.

The store, which was devastated by fire in 2018, will be 76 per cent larger than the previous store on the same site with a new fifth floor in-store which will house a new Home department featuring Primark’s full homeware range of accessories, bedding and small furniture for the first time. The new store will also include a Disney cafe alongside a nail and beauty studio.

Following the fire, the retailer opened another store nearby in Donegall Place. As part of the reopening, the Donegall Place location will close in the days before the newly restored Bank Buildings opens and all staff will be transferred over.

Many businesses in the area suffered greatly after the fire when the junction of Castle Street and Castle Place was closed off to allow building work to commence on site.

In recent months, the shipping containers which were supporting the exterior structure of the building have been transferred to the site of the former Movie House Cinema on Dublin Road where they now house various pop-up businesses as part of the Trademarket Belfast scheme.

Paul Marchant, Primark CEO, said: “We want to thank the people of Belfast for their ongoing support and patience whilst we undertook the extensive re-building works at our iconic Bank Buildings site.

"We recognise how much the business community and wider city of Belfast has been affected by the devastating fire at our store back in 2018. We have put our heart and soul into retaining, conserving and restoring this much-loved historical building.

"We are nearly there with this re-development, and we cannot wait to finally re-open the doors and welcome our customers and our colleagues back into our Bank Buildings store.”

Welcoming the news, Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Tina Black, said: “This is a major investment in Belfast city centre after a challenging time for our local economy. The devastating fire at Bank Buildings in 2018 was a turning point for our city; it acted as a springboard in bringing elected members and city partners together to examine and trial new ideas and concepts to support recovery and regeneration and increase what the city centre has to offer.

"Many of these projects have now been incorporated into our Future City Centre programme.

“This has been a long and complex restoration project, and local traders and shoppers have shown great patience and resilience. We hope the opening of Primark’s extended flagship store will provide a major boost to businesses, particularly in the run-up to the busy Christmas season.”