A FAMILY-OWNED furniture company plans to open a new £4.5m shop on Teesside retail park, near Stockton.

Barker and Stonehouse has applied for planning permission to demolish the derelict Springs Leisure Centre and open a 4,827 sq m store which would be about the size of a football pitch.

If approved, the firm – the largest independent furniture retailer in the UK – would aim to open the new store in early 2015 when it would close its large Cannon Park branch in Middlesbrough, transferring all staff to the new store. A number of new jobs may also be created.

James Barker, managing director, said: “The site provides an excellent location for our new store, allowing us to raise the bar and design a top-quality, inspiring environment that customers will enjoy visiting.”

The new store would create significant work for local firms on Teesside, from design, build and fit-out to additional roles in store.

Springs Leisure Centre closed in 2007 and Stockton Borough Council’s planning committee has since rejected bids to build a warehouse and another to build a 66-bed Travelodge hotel on the site.

Charles Barker and Alex Stonehouse opened the first Barker and Stonehouse store on Bishopton Lane, Stockton, in early 1946 on their return from serving with the RAF in the Second World War.

The company now employs 300 staff and owns nine stores across the UK with showroom space totalling 300,000 sq. ft.