In early 2020 Frasers Group, the company that owns Sports Direct, was being hailed as the saviour of Ipswich town centre after it bought the former BHS.
That department store had been empty for almost four years and an ambitious plan to redevelop it as a leisure and retail complex had collapsed.
Despite misgivings about the way Sports Direct operated and concern about its treatment of employees, the fact it had bought a significant property was seen as a vote of confidence in the town centre.
Since then, however, not a great deal has obviously changed in the Butter Market - and no one has any idea when, or even if, anything more will happen there.
I know there's been a pandemic - and there was a flurry of activity in the store at the end of 2020. But to the outsider it really doesn't seem as if we are any nearer in getting into the shop.
What is really concerning about this is that no one at the council or anywhere else seems to be any the wiser either.
I talk to councillors and business leaders and they tell me that they have occasional short conversations with people at the company, but never get any straight answers.
In March 2022 the company closed its Game store in Ipswich and moved it into the Sports Direct store - which it had said it was closing as part of the move.
And then last autumn, just as the Christmas season got underway, they apparently gave marching orders to H&M who occupied the original BHS store in Tavern Street - telling the council they would be moving one of their own brands in there in early 2023.
It turned out that when they bought the freehold of the Buttermarket BHS, the old site of the company was included in the deal.
We're now nearly half way through 2023 and there is no sign of a Frasers Group company, or anyone else for that matter, moving into Tavern Street.
I'm now hearing mutterings from councillors and business leaders that they wonder if the exit of H&M was just a way of removing a rival from the high street!
This week we've reported that Tessuti, which was bought by Frasers Group last December, is closing its Ipswich store.
That brings to four the number of empty stores in Ipswich town centre linked to this one company. The saviour of the town centre? Hardly.
Frasers Group is the corporate name for the company that runs the House of Fraser department stores, Sports Direct, Flannels, Jack Wills, Game, Tessuti, USC, and other high street names.
It was founded by Mike Ashley who still owns a substantial stake in the business - but is now run by his son-in-law Michael Murray.
The company has never been outgoing with the press - there is no press office listed on its website and it says: "As part of Frasers Group’s commitment to being open but at the same time remaining very prudent, the Company has developed a set approach to engagement with investors, analysts and the press."
It continues: "If members of the press would like to engage with the Company, they are invited to do so in writing via the Company’s Investor Relations email address. The Company will respond to your queries as appropriate in a timely manner.
"Other than as may be required in exceptional circumstances, during the Company’s closed periods it is the Company’s policy to not engage with investors, analysts or the press regarding any non-factual information."
We have written to their investor relations email address but, perhaps unsurprisingly, our queries about the closure of Tessuti and the future of its other properties in Ipswich have not resulted in any response.
So sadly it is not possible to report any positive news about one of Britain's largest retail groups and its involvement in Ipswich.
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