With only a few shopping days left to Christmas what will the collapse of Debenhams and Arcadia empire means for our towns and cities?

At an Academy of Urbanism visit to Sheffield last year the origin of the phrase “the full Monty” was explained to us. We were standing on top of the English Institute of Sport looking towards the Attercliffe Road and our council guide pointed out what they claimed to be the first ever Burton’s store. Opened by Montague Burton, the store, built miles from the city centre, was where the steel workers went to hire a suit for the weekend or to go “the full Monty” as they called it.

Regular readers may remember that I am currently researching the crisis on the high street with a Built Environment Fellowship from the 1851 Commission, so the fate of Burton’s, or Arcadia as it is now called, is of great interest. The collapse of Arcadia and Debenhams in the same week seems to encapsulate the entire history of our high street and also feels like a tipping point.

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