Member Article

Construction work begins on new Morpeth Co-op creating 15 new jobs

Work has started on the construction of a new Co-operative convenience store in Pegswood, Morpeth which will employ 15 staff upon completion.

Newcastle-based Silverstone Building Consultancy has been appointed to project manage the design and build on behalf of Enviro Property Partners, a consortium of local businessmen. Following a tender process they have appointed local firms Northern Structures Ltd, SHED Engineering and Steven Kirk Architecture to help deliver the project.

The new store is being developed on the former Pegswood Ex sports and social club site on Main Street and will replace the existing store, providing a much improved retail offering for the village.

The Co-operative Food announced last year that they were actively looking to acquire new sites in the North East as part of their ongoing expansion and were aiming to open a total of 100 new stores across the UK to strengthen their position as a convenience retailer.

The new 4,000sqft retail unit will have an open plan net sales area of 3,000sqft with the remaining 1,000sqft designated as office and storage space.

It will benefit from an ATM machine and a total of 15 standard car parking spaces will be provided, along with two spaces for disabled drivers and a single ‘family parking’ bay.

The letting to the Co-op Group was secured by Bradley Hall Chartered Surveyors.

Associate director at Silverstone, Mark Coulter, said: “With a shortage of design and build projects coming forward in the market we are pleased to have been appointed to manage this one.

“The steelwork has now started on site and the store is due for completion in April.

“Silverstone has previously project managed numerous design and build projects including a 165,000sqft unit for Gestamp Tallent Automotive, giving us a wealth of experience in successfully delivering this kind of project.”

Director of Enviro Property Partners, David Pollard, said; “We are delighted to see the steelwork frame going up, we have had very positive feedback from local residents who are keen to see the store finished and open for business as soon as possible.

“We are grateful to Northumberland County Council who granted planning permission for the development, which will undoubtedly be beneficial to the local community.”