CITY chiefs will continue to talk with the bosses from Chester Northgate’s first confirmed retailer as it prepares to close stores nationwide.

Cheshire West and Chester Council announced that House of Fraser would be the new development’s flagship store last February.

But fresh doubts have been thrown onto the launch after the department store chain’s new majority shareholder announced future store closures this week.

Graham Pink, director of place commissioning and commercial management at CWAC, said: “We continue to follow the situation as part of our plans for Chester Northgate.

“Chester Northgate will be a mixed-use scheme with retail, food, leisure and housing.

“We already have a number of businesses signed up to open including House of Fraser who we are in regular dialogue with and we will discuss these developments with them as part of our regular conversations.”

Chinese retailer C.banner – owner of toy store Hamleys – has bought a 51 per cent stake in House of Fraser in a £70 million deal.

However, the sale is dependent on the British retailer closing an unknown number of its 59 stores and renegotiating rents through a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), which would give the company time to secure further investment.

House of Fraser is expected to open a 100,000sq ft store in Northgate as the site’s retail anchor.

The company is yet to announce any further updates on its plans for Northgate, and a spokesman confirmed that more details on the company’s CVA are set to be revealed at the beginning of June.

Crowne Plaza has also signed up to open a hotel at Northgate, while Tapas Revolution and Cosy Club are set to open restaurants in the development’s first phase.