Nottingham’s former Debenhams building has again been accessed by ‘urban explorers’ filming inside the site four years on from the store’s closure. Plans are due to be set out early this year on what the future of the iconic building holds after the Debenhams store first closed in May 2021.
An urban explorer known as ‘Urbex No Limits’ first accessed the Old Market Square building in April 2024, with eerie pictures showing that many items from its Debenhams past had been left behind. Empty shelving units, payment counters and computers were all visible.
A video uploaded on Sunday (December 5) by the J Smith Media Production YouTube channel now shows that urban explorers have been back inside Debenhams. The video again shows that many remnants of the former Debenhams store still remain.
Do you welcome the plans for Broad Marsh? Let us know here
The video sees the explorers go inside the former canteen, kitchens and shop floor. Longmead Capital, the company which has been in talks with Nottingham City Council over the building’s future, previously said it was being kept safe and secure. The company did not want to comment on the latest access of the building.
Empty corridor leading to the café counter at Nottingham Debenhams, pictured when Urbex No Limits were at the site in April 2024
(Image: Urbex No Limits)
Longmead Capital manages the old Debenhams building on behalf of Long Row Properties Limited, a Jersey-based company which first acquired the site in 2017. Longmead has previously explained that Long Row Properties first acquired the site on the basis that they would receive a continuous income stream from Debenhams.
Neghat Khan, Nottingham City Council’s leader, previously told Nottinghamshire Live that the plans for the building’s future were “ready to go” and expected a public consultation to be launched by developers very early in 2025. Describing the condition of the building when she went on a site visit, Councillor Khan said: “The state of the building is not in brilliant shape.
“They were showing me the damage in the building and what needs to happen, some of it’s listed and they understood all that. They know the challenge they’ve got to redevelop that”. Nottinghamshire Live does not encourage others to emulate the activities of urban explorers, who often enter sites where there is the possibility of doing so without force.