Plans by German retail group Haussmann to open a massive new store in the centre of Amsterdam are in doubt, according to trade publication RetailNews.

The website says all staff who were involved in the project have been returned to other duties and that the company has written to suppliers saying that there are doubts about the project.

The store was originally slated to open in September 2016 but that was shifted to 2017. The Financieele Dagblad reported in December that Haussmann was also finding it difficult to get commitments from enough luxury brands to fit the format.

Haussmann co founder and chairman Frans van der Kraan left the company several weeks ago and this, a spokesman told the NRC, was reason to look again at the project.

Haussmann was due to locate next to a new flagship store for British retail group Marks & Spencer. That project is said to be continuing, even though M&S recently ended its alliance with BP petrol stations to sell food because of disappointing sales.

The Dutch high street department store group V&D went bust just before Christmas.