Global fashion retailer, H&M, is the latest high profile brand to sign up to the Flemingate development in Beverley.

The company, which has 3,000 stores in 53 countries and employs 104,000 people, is one of the best known names on the UK High Street and its commitment to the Beverley site is a major coup for the project.

The H&M Board rubber stamped the move at a meeting in Stockholm last week.

Its Flemingate store will cover 20,000 sq.ft. over two floors and it is anticipated it will create scores of new retail and administrative jobs for Beverley. H&M was founded in 1947 when Erling Persson opened a single women’s wear shop in Vasteras, Sweden. The name was changed to Hennes and Mauritz in 1968 and is today one of the best known brands, especially in Europe.

Flemingate is a £120m mixed-use retail and leisure regeneration scheme by Hull-based property and investment specialist, the Wykeland Group, in partnership with London-based Quintain Estates and Development. It has already been announced that Debenhams are taking in excess of 40,000 sq. ft. of space, becoming the site’s anchor retailer, that Premier Inn is to provide an 80-bed hotel and that Cleethorpes-based Parkway Cinemas will operate a multi-screen cinema complex.

The developers can also confirm that Zizzi, part of the Gondola Restaurant Group, are also taking the first restaurant unit at Flemingate.

Once completed, the project will provide around 700 permanent jobs with a further 320 during the construction phase and is forecast to generate an additional income for Beverley of more than £30m a year.

A spokesman for the Wykeland Group said: “The decision by the H&M Board to open a new store in Beverley is terrific news for the Flemingate development and a resounding endorsement for Beverley as a retail destination.

“The company’s commitment to our scheme is another major step forward and there will be further announcements in the coming weeks”.