ECF signs Co-op Food in Salford
Co-op Food has agreed a deal with English Cities Fund to occupy a 4,000 sq ft store at Vimto Gardens in the Salford regeneration area around Chapel Street.
The £500,000 store is due to open in the autumn and is part of a £20m programme of new and revamped Co-op Food stores in the North West planned for 2016, including a dozen new stores and nearly 20 refurbishments.
Vimto Gardens is a development of 96 apartments and townhouses, completed 18 months ago and fully sold. The first commercial letting on the ground floor units was agreed in March to Vero Moderno, an Italian restaurant and takeaway.
Chris Moss, acquisition manager for the Co-op in the region, said: “Our new store programme has really started to gain momentum. The Co-op Food business is moving forwards with a clear purpose so we can deliver a compelling, convenient and co-operative shopping experience for shoppers each day.
“Our acquisitions programme is fundamental to the success of this strategy. In the last two years we have opened close to 200 new stores UK-wide, and in 2016 the Co-op is actively pursuing 100 new stores as well as carrying out refits in a further 150. Our new Co-op look represents all that we stand for, our proud co-operative heritage and our decision that membership, the very thing that makes us truly distinctive, must be at the heart of all we say and do. With the Co-op’s blue design logo – often referred to as the ‘clover leaf’ and first used in the late 1960s – linking to a time when people really understood how they could be co-owners of their Co-op, and how a strong Co-op could help to create strong communities.”
Phil Mayall, development director at English Cities Fund, said: “We have been working for a number of years to ensure the scheme delivers what the people of Salford want. A convenience store that caters for families and professionals living in the area ranked highly, and we are confident that the new Co-op store will satisfy that demand.
“When complete, Salford Central will create around 11,000 new jobs, many of which will be for local people. Additionally it will offer 220,000 square metres of commercial space, 849 new homes and 390 hotel rooms.”
English Cities Fund is a joint venture between Muse Developments, Legal & General and the Homes & Communities Agency.
