A SECURE future is being promised for Allders department store by its new boss.

Andrew MacKenzie, who was chief executive of the North End store, expressed his confidence in the future after he and two unnamed partners bought a 70 per cent controlling interest in the operation.

Suggestions, not confirmed by Mr MacKenzie, are that the deal is worth up to £30m.

Until now Allders has been controlled by Harold Tillman, owner of the Jaeger fashion group, but under the deal he will now retain just a 30 per cent interest in the store.

Mr MacKenzie told the Advertiser: "This is great news for the store. We now have new partners who will back the business and we still have Harold in the background as a shareholder."

Mr MacKenzie stressed that staff numbers would not be affected by the changes and he would be looking at increasing the store's range of stock.

He said: "I think the impact of the riots has subsided but the general economic malaise that the UK faces is still continuing."

But he believed Allders, which is 150 years old this year, was well set to meet those challenges.

He said: "We have secured both the future of the store and the people who work in it. It is a good business move for us and for Croydon."

Mr MacKenzie said the potential arrival of Westfield, which is looking at taking control of the Whitgift Centre, was another tremendous opportunity for the town to move forward.

He said: "We want to be part of that and have a place in a new development. I have great faith in the town and in the people here."