A brand new concept is coming to Brindleyplace after AF Blakemore, one of the UK’s largest privately owned family businesses began work to expand its SPAR convenience store just off Central Square.
The new concept, the first of its kind in the West Midlands, will bring two of the AF Blakemore brands together, marrying the innovative range of fresh hot and cold food for now from its Philpotts brand with the latest in its award-winning SPAR store format.
The new store will occupy the space formerly taken up by the existing SPAR and extend into the unit previously occupied by Baguette du Monde. AF Blakemore has been granted a new lease on a 15 year term, with the new unit due to open in April.
The new SPAR will join other recent announcements and openings across the estate, including Rudy’s pizza and Turtle Bay, both at Oozells Square.
Brindleyplace is home to more than 1.1 million sq ft of commercial space, as well as 30 leisure units alongside three major family-centred tourist attractions – the Ikon Gallery, Crescent Theatre and National Sea Life Centre.
In a waterside location at the heart of Britain’s canal network, as well as the city’s Westside commercial district, Brindleyplace is perfectly placed for both leisure and business.
Mark Titley, Property Director at AF Blakemore, said: ‘With this new offer at Brindleyplace we are continuing to innovate the convenience store proposition, bringing the AF Blakemore sister brand Philpotts into SPAR and creating a store designed to serve the key missions of the Brindleyplace visitors, workers and community.
‘We thank everyone on the Brindleyplace team for their help in helping us turn around this new lease and for being so attuned to meeting our requirements. We hugely appreciate our long-standing relationship with the estate team at Brindleyplace and look forward to opening this new store.’
Matt Long, Head of Customer Engagement and Placemaking at Brindleyplace, says: ‘We continue to attract a large amount of interest from established retailers and others for commercial space at Brindleyplace and are very pleased to see a long-standing partner, AF Blakemore, invest in Brindleyplace and bring a new retail concept to the estate.
‘This is exactly the kind of retail offer that will appeal to both visitors and occupiers. One of the strengths of Brindleyplace is how it offers space for the full range of occupiers, especially businesses and organisations looking for both highly flexible and highly productive space in which to do business.’
Creative Retail has advised the Brindleyplace team while AF Blakemore acted for themselves.
