Heron Foods is the first retailer to open at a former pub in Chaddesden following a deal completed by leading East Midlands commercial property consultancy Innes England.
The firm, which has offices in Derby, Leicester and Nottingham, is marketing the former Blue Boy public house in Wiltshire Road on behalf of a developer following its conversion into three retail units and residential.
The food retailer is now trading from the 4,100 sq ft unit following a pre-let secured by Innes England.
Ben Taylor, head of retail agency at the firm, handled the deal. He said: “We worked closely with the client to identify this opportunity due to its potential for conversion into a mixed residential and retail scheme.
“Its location in Wiltshire Road is one of the main spine roads through Chaddesden and lies at the heart of the area’s local centre which already has a great retail mix of independent and multiple retailers including Nisa and Coral.
“The key to unlocking the development was the anchor pre-let to Heron Foods, which will further enhance the options available to people living in the local area.
“There are two additional units available – one at just over 1,500 sq ft and another at 800 sq ft which can be taken individually or combined, which are suitable for a range of retail, leisure, community and food uses.”
Heron Foods is a discount retailer with 250 shops in the North and Midlands regions. It already has shops in Allenton and Derby.
Jonathan Laverack, estates director at Heron Foods, said: “We’re really pleased with the conversion, the shop is trading well and hopefully we’ve given the people of Chaddesden more choice for their food shopping.”
The redevelopment of the former Blue Boy public house comprises three ground floor retail units, three apartments to the upper floors and a further six new build residential properties to the rear of the building.
