New tenant for Talbot Gateway

A coffee shop is due to open in April in a unit on the ground floor of Bickerstaffe House, on the corner of Talbot Road and Cookson Street.

Developers Muse have struck a deal with Blackpool Entertainment Company Limited who will take over the 1,493 sq ft (139 sqm) unit and operate it as the Tower Coffee Company serving hot and cold drinks, including Coffee Republic, and freshly-made food.

Greg Ball, development surveyor at Muse, said: “The scheme is now attracting a lot of interest from occupiers which is testament to the quality and location of the Talbot Gateway.

“Tower Coffee Company will enhance the tenant mix and retail offering for this part of Blackpool.

“With the recent opening of Mr Basrai’s World Cuisine, a letting agreed for a gym and strong interest from a number of other national operators, momentum has built very quickly in the early part of 2016 and we’re hoping to make further announcements in the very near future.”

The Talbot Gateway scheme had come under fire for the slow pace at which tenants have been found.

But the £1m Mr Basrai’s World Cuisine opened on the ground floor of the refurbished Talbot Road car park in December, creating 40 jobs.

The Gym group is also set to open in the ground floor of the multi-storey car park this spring.

Coun Fred Jackson, cabinet member for municipal assets on Blackpool Council, said: “With each new business that opens in the Talbot Gateway you see the area getting busier and busier.

“I am delighted that another unit will soon be occupied attracting even more people to this area of the town centre.

“More than 1,000 people work out of the units that are already occupied so I am sure that a coffee shop will be hugely popular.”

This latest deal means approximately 70 per cent of retail space available at Talbot Gateway CBD has now been let.

Three units and a floor of office space remain empty, which are being marketed by Montagu Evans, Duxburys Commercial and Cushman & Wakefield.