Tuesday, August 25, 2020

News: Updated plans in for former Rotherham Homebase

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An expanding car retailer is accelerating plans to open a massive new car supermarket in Rotherham.

Rothbiz reported in March that The Trade Centre Group, had secured the necessary planning approval in order to take on the retail warehouse at Northfields that was previously occupied by Homebase,

The proposals would create 180 jobs.

The Trade Centre Group was established in 1999 and is now the fastest growing used car retailer in the UK with a turnover of £255m in 2019. Headquartered in Neath, the company originally had three showrooms throughout the South Wales region, before expanding into the West Midlands. A former Homebase unit in Rochdale was converted last year as the expansion continued North with plans to open eight or more new outlets over the next five years.

The Trade Centre Group acquired the 52,000 sq ft Rotherham warehouse in 2019, in a deal worth £6.75m, shortly after Homebase confirmed that the store would close.

Now the Welsh company has submitted further details to Rotherham Council planners relating to the area of land which fell outside of the former Homebase site and which does not currently have planning permission for change of use to car sales.

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Plans, drawn up by AP Architecture & Planning, show that the applicant now has until November 14 2020 to formally occupy the building / site to implement the approved planning permission.

The existing building will be used as a 174 bay indoor showroom together with ancillary spaces which include, a dry valet area, small workshop, offices, staff toilets, customer toilets, baby changing, storage, sign up area and waiting areas.

New access off Forge Way and customer car parking is proposed in the latest set of plans. Trade Centre Group sites, typically average 100 customers each day midweek, 300 on Saturday and 200 on a Sunday, with typical footfall spread evenly across the day.

The plan is to utilise the existing car park and vacant land that was earmarked for further development to create 812 external car sales bays plus staff and customer parking.

The site was formerly occupied by B&Q with the retail warehouse having been purposely built for them. It was vacant since June 2016 when B&Q cut back its UK store numbers. Australian retail giant, Wesfarmers, opened and closed a Bunnings Warehouse in the unit in the space of five months before it re-branded as a Homebase in 2018.

Trade Centre Group website


Images: Google Maps / Trade Centre Group

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