It sold the 100,000 sq ft office building and adjacent warehouse on Cherry Tree Road in Watford for close to £15m to an unidentified buyer and signed a 10-year lease under the sale-and-leaseback deal.

The office is located on a 3.1-acre site in a predominantly residential area in the suburbs of the Hertfordshire town, and one source close to the deal said it had the potential to be converted into housing in the long term if Mothercare went under or vacated it.