SUIT retail and hire business Moss Bros is closing its store in York city centre, six years after it opened.

The branch in Stonegate will shut at the end of the month, affecting six jobs.

But the company, the largest retailer of branded suits on the high street, said it will retain its York store at the Designer Outlet at Fulford.

And an estate agent has revealed there has been strong interest from other retailers in taking over the Moss Bros premises when they fall vacant.

Mark Woodhead, area manager for Moss Bros, said the decision to close the Stonegate store was not part of any wider closure programme across the country.

“It’s a purely commercial, one-off decision,” he said.

He said that while the city centre store was not making sufficient profit, the other branch at the Designer Outlet had been trading successfully, with trade getting stronger and stronger.

One factor could be that the Outlet, with free parking, was more convenient for local customers than the city centre location, which might be of more interest to traders catering to the tourist market.

He said the lease at Stonegate had come up for renewal recently and the company had now taken the opportunity to leave the site.

Asked whether any of the six city centre member of staff might be able to move across to the Outlet, he said: “I can’t comment on that, as the matter is currently out to consultation.”

Mr Woodhead said the company would be contacting any customers who had booked to hire a suit from the city centre store to tell them they could get it instead from stores elsewhere, such as the Designer Outlet or the company’s Leeds store.

Andrew Hedley, of Blacks Property Consultants, said there was “great demand” for the Moss Bros. unit, with a major clothing retailer now set to move there.