New lease of life given to popular town centre building

Previously, 14 Market Place traded as ‘The Little Tea Pot’ café and sits in a prominent location right in the heart of Newark.

A need to focus on tackling unused retail units and improving the market square is a top priority for the District Council as well as for residents according to its recent public consultation on Newark Town Centre, which had feedback from more than 1,500 residents.

Plans for the refurbishment will see the entire property given a revamp with the ground floor retained as commercial space with the upper floor refurbished into a shell fit out to consider it for a wide range of future uses.

The District Council is investing in refurbishing the building in Newark Town Centre in its bid to ensure, where possible, properties are not left unused and town centre opportunities are maximised.

Councillor Matthew Spoors, Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Economic Development, said: “This is another perfect example where we’re being proactive in supporting our town centre and are investing in a prominent building to bring it back into use. It sits in a key location, and we hope that once the refurbishment has been completed, we’ll see it adding value to the town centre once again.

“Again, we’re taking action in transforming a previously empty building and transforming it into a site that encourages investment. While we own very few units in the town centre, where we do, such as the Buttermarket, we’ve secured fantastic tenants such as Tambo Lounge, Iguazu, Specsavers and Inspire. Work on the former M&S building on Stodman Street is also showing great promise as we hope to breathe new life into the town centre.

“If you head down the A1 to other similar market towns you won’t see this level of support anywhere.  It can be easy to criticise for not doing enough, but we are doing so much to support our local businesses and to encourage people to visit our high streets.

“We hope that other building owners in the town will consider what they can do to bring unused buildings back into use, there could be other ways they could let their buildings. Rather than leave a building empty, investing in the building can make it more valuable to potential business owners.”.