Supermarket chain Waitrose say they’re thinking of applying for a new shop in Leamington which would create 180 jobs.
The company – which already has a store in Kenilworth – says it’s in talks with Coventry-based developer Deeley Properties on creating a shop on the site of Leamington’s fire station on Warwick Street.
It would cost around £20 million pounds and be a similar size.
The county council is in the early stages of thinking about whether to move the fire station from Warwick Street to better meet the town’s needs.
[As opposed to saving money? DM]It’s asking people interested in the site to get in touch.
Waitrose say they now want to talk to local people to get their views and if they are behind their proposals a planning application will be submitted in June.
Nigel Keen, Director of Development for Waitrose, said: “We have wanted to open in Leamington Spa for a very long time so when the council invited interested parties to share their ideas, we welcomed the opportunity to bring forward a proposal.
“Listening to the views of the local community is paramount in our approach and we wanted to start speaking to shopkeepers and residents as soon as we could.”
The plans will go on show next weekend at the Royal Priors Shopping Centre.
“We now look forward to developing plans for a quality new food store which we believe will be appropriate in scale for the town whilst still creating a significant number of new jobs and enhancing the choice of shopping facilities already available.”
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 3:22 pm