A NEW high street fashion shop will open in Eastleigh next month.

Fashion store H&M will open in the town on October 13.

The store will open in the Swan Centre and will bring around 17 new full and part time jobs to Eastleigh Swan Centre managers have spent the last six months working with specialist contractors to ready the space for H&M to take possession.

A 15 year lease has now been agreed between Ellandi, Swan Centre owners and H&M, who are expected to take possession of the space in the summer of 2016 with a projected opening date towards the end of the year.

The store will be located opposite Ernest Jones in the site where Boswells restaurant originally operated before relocating within the scheme earlier last year.

The two level store will be a dramatic glass fronted building which will transform the heart of the Swan Centre. Ellandi have made a £3m investment to generate the area necessary to accommodate the 17,000 sq foot glass fronted retail unit over two floors.

Mims Davies MP for Eastleigh said “The mix and variety in Eastleigh at the Swan Centre is strong and the new H&M store makes that offer even stronger.”

“All too often in our area shops are locating out of town rather than contributing to a vibrant town centre. I am pleased that this new store will bring more jobs and more business activity to the Swan Centre.”

The H&M Group has more than 4,000 stores in 62 markets including franchise markets. The number of employees it has is more than 148,000.

“The new H&M store will be an amazing addition to the Centre,” said Daniel Kitchen, Swan Centre manager.

“It will be fantastic for our shoppers and also underlines the significance of Eastleigh as a retail destination.

"There is some serious work to be done to create a unit to meet the size and design H&M require and we will be asking our shoppers’ to be patient with the temporary disruption.

"The end result however will be one more significant step in the progress Eastleigh is making as a major retail and leisure destination. ”

H&M’s Country Manager for UK & Ireland, Carlos Duarte said: “H&M are excited to be continuing our Autumn season openings with the new store in Eastleigh.

"We are delighted to bring our offering of high fashion designs and quality basics, to new and existing customers, giving them the opportunity to create and reflect their own personal style.”