Bonmarché will be closing its Chatham store next year after the clothing retailer collapsed into administration back in October.

Future Chatham first reported the possibility of Bonmarché closing at the beginning of December, after it emerged that 30 "under-performing and unsustainable" stores were to shut as part of cost-cutting measures.

At least 240 jobs nationwide are expected to be lost, however it has not yet been made clear how many will be lost at the Chatham branch. An exact date for the store's permanent closure also remains unclear.

Bonmarché collapsed into administration during the middle of October this year, having issued a series of profit warnings during what continues to be a difficult trading environment for many retailers across the UK. It was earmarked that another clothing retailer, Peacocks, may potentially bid to rescue Bonmarché from administration.

Future Chatham has contacted Bonmarché for further information, but was still awaiting a response at the time of writing.

The only TSB branch serving Medway in Chatham High Street will remain open, despite the bank announcing it will close over 80 locations next year.

TSB unveiled its plans to shut 82 of its branches across the country by the end of 2020 in a bid to cut costs by at least £100m, leading to a loss of around 370 jobs.

In the last two years alone, TSB has experienced a 17% drop in the number of transactions made at physical branches, with customers increasingly choosing to bank online or by phone instead.

The branch in Chatham High Street opposite McDonalds will not be affected by the bank's closure programme and will continue to operate as usual.

A shop owner has revealed their plans to demolish an existing motorcycle shop on Luton Road in Chatham and replace it with a block of flats.

The proposals, subject to approval by Medway Council, will see the existing Barney's Bikes motorcycle shop at the junction of Luton Road with Albany Road flattened to make way for a new block comprising of four 1-bed and two 2-bed flats. It is also planned that two separate retail units will occupy the ground floor.

​Rochester-based Ubique Architects, who designed the proposed block on behalf of the shop owner, said that the development has been designed to "make a positive contribution to the street scene", despite it being out of character from the typical Victorian architecture along Luton Road.

No parking spaces will be included after a parking survey carried out in light of the planning application concluded that existing parking stress levels in the surrounding streets "will be able to cope" with the additional car numbers expected to be generated, according to the architects.

While the architects insist the new three-storey block of flats will have a positive contribution to the local area, residents living nearby have already lodged their objections against the plans.

One resident noted the choice of one and two-bed flats could lead to an increase in social isolation and loneliness, an already detrimental problem in the Luton Road area which has seen a sharp rise in the number of family houses being converted into bedsits and houses of multiple occupation. Concerns have also been raised about the development's stark and radical contrast to the "widely appreciated" Victorian street scene of Luton Road.

What are your thoughts? Residents are encouraged to take a look at the plans for the proposed block of flats and share their views by submitting a comment on Medway Council's Planning Portal website.

Greetings card chain Clintons has announced that its Chatham store will remain open as usual after the troubled company was rescued from administration this week.

It was initially reported that Clintons was considering to shut 1 in 5 of its stores through a process known as a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), which would have allowed the retailer to close under-performing stores and cut rents on others in response to its insolvency.

However, this has been avoided after the company effectively bought itself out of administration by its existing owners.

This means that the retailer's 334 stores - including the Chatham store inside the Pentagon Shopping Centre - and its 2,500-strong workforce will remain unaffected for now.

Founded in 1968, the Clintons chain - formerly known as Clinton Cards - fell into administration in May 2012, closing nearly 200 of its own stores and all 139 Birthdays shops, which was a subsidiary of the retail group. The former Birthdays store in the Pentagon Shopping Centre was rebranded to the current Clintons store, while Clintons Cards near Primark closed its doors for the final time in July 2012 - now home to the Wisdom Hospice charity shop.