Tessuti is the latest retailer to pull out of Ipswich town centre - it has launched a closing-down sale only months after being taken over by Frasers Group.

The store has been open since it took over the former Next site in Westgate Street in 2017.

At that time Tessuti was owned by JD Sports - but in December the entire brand was sold to the Frasers Group.

That is the group that owns the Sports Direct, Flannels, Jack Wills, Game and House of Fraser brands.

In Ipswich it owns the former BHS site which it bought in 2020 but has not yet reopened as a new department store.

It also owns the freehold of the former H&M site in Tavern Street. It terminated the lease of its retail rival in November, saying it wanted the site for its own Flannels brand early in 2023.

But since then nothing seems to have happened at what is now another empty shop.

Unlike the former BHS and H&M sites, Frasers Group does not own the freehold of the Tessuti site - and that could be a reason for the closure.

Frasers Group is a company that likes to own the property that it occupies so it does not have to pay rent.

The prime-site property opposite Marks and Spencer will now be looking for a new tenant - when it was occupied by Next until 2015 it was always a very busy town centre store.

We have tried to contact Frasers Group for a comment on their plans for their stores and the property they own in Ipswich town centre but have had no response.

Tessuti currently has a closing down sale with substantial discounts on its remaining stock, but there is no indication when it is expected to close for the last time.