[3] The present Bentalls department store opened in July 1990, with the adjoining shopping centre completed in November 1992.

[4] The principal facade and main entrance vestibule of the 1935 building were retained as part of the development and listed at Grade II in 2011.

The company made a substantial investment in 1998 to open a large department store in Bristol, purchasing the recently vacated premises of John Lewis and completely refurbishing it.

The group's first foray into the south-west of England was ill-fated, however, with the outlet failing to turn a profit and proving to be a financial drain on the wider business.

[5] In June of that year, the family-owned rival department store chain Fenwick purchased Bentalls for £70.8 million.

Fenwick subsequently sold the Lakeside store to Allders and the leases of the Bentalls sites in Ealing, Tonbridge and Worthing to the Bournemouth-based Beales group.

Bentalls is mentioned by the character Chubb in the Anthony Blunt episode (A Question of Attribution) of the stage play Single Spies by Alan Bennett.