Plans submitted to bring back to life prominent former bank building in Northampton town centre

Plans have been submitted to to bring back to life a prominent former bank building in Northampton town centre.

Number 18 Drapery has been empty ever since Barclays Bank vacated the large premises back in April 2022 and relocated to Abington Street.

Over the last two years the building has stood derelict in one of the town’s main streets. However, plans have been submitted to convert the former building into a ‘Mentor Merlin’.

Planning papers say: “We are currently in the process of planning the installation of signage at 18-20, The Drapery.

"We intend to install built-up letters on the front of the building, reading ‘Mentor Merlin,’ which is the name of the company.”

According to its website, Mentor Merlin is an ‘all in one solution for nurses anywhere in the world who dream to work as a registered nurse in the UK’.

They go on to say, ‘We provide online tutorials for OET, NMC CBT and OSCE with 100 percent success rate and are considered as the global leader in this sector’, with courses ranging from £90 to £800.

The company, whose headquarters are in Gold Street, have been contacted for comment.

Next door, at the former Nationwide building, signs have been up for months now advertising ‘The Grand Cafe’. It is yet to open however.

Opposite, the former Shoezone store still stand vacant one year after they relocated to the Grosvenor Centre.

Up the road, works continue at the former Debenhams building to bring 201 new student flats.

Behind, £10 million works to refurbish the Market Square are still on target to be completed by summer.