News: Trade Centre Group get green light for new Rotherham car supermarket

An expanding car retailer has secured the necessary planning approval in order to open a massive new car supermarket in Rotherham - a move that could create 180 jobs.

Rothbiz revealed in February that the Trade Centre Group, was looking to take on the former Homebase unit at Parkgate.

The Trade Centre Group was established in 1999 and is now the fastest growing used car retailer in the UK. Headquartered in Neath, the company encompasses Trade Centre Wales and Trade Centre UK and 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.

The company's Rotherham proposals include converting the existing building 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.

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 Trade Centre Group has already acquired the site. Previous owners, BMO Real Estate confirmed that its Rotherham retail warehouse was sold for £6.75m in December 2019 to an owner occupier.

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Planners at Rotherham Council have been satisfied with the proposals and said: "From a Planning Policy perspective the Council previously proposed to allocate the site for employment uses and a fully employment development would be the most preferable in terms of job creation.

"It is noted that up to 180 No. jobs could be created and Policy colleagues are supportive of a proposed development that helps bring more of the site forward and have raised no objections in principle to the car sales proposal."

Documents submitted in support of the plans show that the new operation would create 86 customer facing retail roles, 52 technical and logistics roles and 12 administration roles. Recruitment began earlier this year.

Further details on dealing with flood risk and road access / widening are now set to be submitted.

With a turnover of £255m in 2019 the group is set to grow revenues in 2020 by over 35%.

Trade Centre UK website



Images: Trade Centre UK

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News: More plans proposed for large Rotherham retail unit

A large retail unit at Parkgate, which has a chequered history, could be changed again under recently submitted plans.

Rothbiz reported in 2014 that JD Sports Fashion plc, had taken on the lease of a vacant 45,000 sq ft store at Parkgate Shopping. It has been used as a clearance outlet for the company's outdoor brands such as Millets and Blacks.

Now plans have been submitted that show how the large unit could be subdivided into four separate units, each with their own entrance.

The plans are on behalf of Trustees of the Rotherham Unit Trust. In a transaction worth around £175m, BMO Real Estate Partners (BMO) acquired the park in 2015.

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The unit was previously home to Kiddicare, the retailer of baby products, but the store closed when the business was sold by Morrisons. Before that, it was Best Buy, but the electronics retailer closed its Parkgate store after it made the decision to close all 11 of its UK stores. And before that, the unit was a Homebase which has recently re-opened at the nearby Northfields Retail Park.

No new retail tenants have been disclosed.

Having secured national retailer Primark, the popular retail destination has lost the likes of Mothercare and Maplin as the retail industry continues to struggle. Earlier this month, national retailer, Marks & Spencer announced plans to close a further 17 more stores with the loss of 1,000 jobs - including its Rotherham store at Parkgate.

Plans have progressed for the large Matalan unit on the park to be subdivided to include a potential new Everlast Gym and plans have also been submitted to introduce a new smaller unit within the parade where Poundworld vacated its unit last year.

Parkgate Shopping website

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News: Sports Direct planning new Rotherham gym

British retailing group, Sports Direct, is working out plans to fit a new gym into Parkgate Shopping in Rotherham.

Rothbiz reported in August that plans had been submitted to create a new mezzanine level within the existing Matalan unit. New plans now show that the 40,000 sq ft of space is not set to be used just as retail, but also for a new gym.

A subsequent application seeks to the change of use of the unit from Use Class A1 (retail) to include both Use Class A1 (retail) and use class D2 (leisure) to enable no more than 21,500 sq ft of the unit to be used as a gym.

Planning documents state: "It is proposed that the unit will be occupied by an existing retailer on Parkgate Shopping (Sports Direct), who are proposing to trade the gym element of their offer as Everlast (one of their brands) from part of the unit."

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Everlast-branded fitness gyms are fully equipped with state-of-the-art cardio and resistance-training equipment, along with dedicated areas for fitness classes. With 13 Everlast gyms, the firm also operates 24 gyms under its Sports Direct Fitness fascia.

Membership starts at £5 per month.

Planning consultants believe that the proposals would not give rise to material adverse harm, let alone "significant adverse harm" on Rotherham town centre or Parkgate district centre and add that current Rotherham gyms are located within out of centre locations and as such the impact on these facilities is not relevant to national planning impact tests.

A sequential test is also included but consultants have discounted a number of sites in and on the edge of Rotherham town centre that are preferable in planning terms.

Sequential tests ensure that development is located in the most sustainable location first (usually in town centres), before other, less sustainable locations are chosen.

Discounted sites include Forge Island, the former Primark store and the former Guest & Chrimes site.

Everlast website

Images: Everlast

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News: Tram-train arrival prompts parking restrictions at Parkgate

Visitors to the popular Parkgate Shopping retail park in Rotherham are being warned about a new Car Park Management Enforcement System restricting parking to five hours. It comes after the innovative tram train services began linking Parkgate with Rotherham, Meadowhall and Sheffield.

Passengers in South Yorkshire are the first in the country to benefit from the innovative tram-train pilot, which entered public service at the end of October. The special vehicles use pioneering technology to run on both Sheffield's tramlines and the rail network in Rotherham.

A new station has been built to the rear of Parkgate Shopping and an area of the car park near Matalan is now reserved for tram-train users - with 31 spaces.

Users of the service hoping to "park & ride" will need to use the reserved car park or move their vehicle before five hours if using the car park usually used by shoppers. New signs show that the free parking offer also comes with a "no return within two hours" rule.

The South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE), Northern Rail and Network Rail have been working together on the £100m+ pilot project which was first announced in 2009. Securing Government funding, the aim of the project is to help determine whether tram-trains can run in other parts of the country.

For the local area, the aim of the project is to help people in Sheffield and Rotherham travel to jobs, education and training. The extra transport link offers better connections between businesses in the two areas and across the region to help the local economy to grow.

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BMO Real Estate Partners owns Parkgate Shopping and private company, TPS UK, operates the car park. Back in 2009, civil enforcement officers at Rotherham Council commenced patrols of Parkgate Shopping with the intention of penalising people parking in a designated disabled bay with no valid blue badge or on double yellow lines.

Attracting seven million visitors a year, the park, which has 42 shops, has 2,000 free parking spaces including bays for blue badge holders and parents with young children.

A FAQ from SYPTE, explains: "There are 31 dedicated parking spaces for tram-train customers within Parkgate retail park. There is no charge for this parking. A "drop off/pick up" facility near the platform at Parkgate is also available for passengers using tram-train. Parking facilities outside of the 31 dedicated spaces for tram-train customers is subject to the parking terms and conditions of Parkgate retail park. This includes terms of maximum stay.

"Parking at Rotherham Central is managed by Northern Rail and is for Northern Rail customers only. Tram Train customers wishing to park close to the station should use the existing off-street car parks. SYPTE is proposing to provide additional parking facilities for Tram Train customers at Rotherham Interchange when it reopens in February. More information will be provided closer to this time.

"Park & ride facilities are available at Meadowhall and Nunnery Square for Supertram and tram-train customers."

It is understood that more tram-train stops could be introduced in other places if the pilot is successful and this can be funded. SYPTE's business plan for 2018 includes an aim to investigate the feasibility of a tram stop (and park & ride) at Magna in Rotherham.

The plan adds: "It is unlikely that tram-train will make a sufficient financial return on its own and there is a need to understand whether additional stops could support this in the longer term."

Supertram website
SYPTE website

Images: Tom Austen

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News: Matalan mezzanine plans proposed

The owners of Parkgate Shopping in Rotherham have developed plans to create another 40,000 sq ft of retail space within an existing unit at the popular retail park.

Ranked in the top five retail parks in the country, Parkgate Shopping has 561,530 sq ft of retail and restaurant space and attracts eight million visitors per year with stores including Morrisons, Marks & Spencer, Primark, Next, H&M and TK Maxx.

In a transaction worth around £175m, BMO Real Estate Partners (BMO) acquired Parkgate Shopping in September 2015 from the Hercules Unit Trust (HUT).

Now Interest Trustees Ltd & Spread Trustee Company Ltd (as Trustees of the Rotherham Unit Trust) have submitted details of proposals to create a new mezzanine level inside the existing unit that is currently occupied by fashion and homeware retailer, Matalan.

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The covering letter outlines how the owners believe that they can install the new mezzanine, which would create an additional 39,611 sq ft of retail space, without actually needing to receive planning permission.

Agents Lichfields, state: "It is material to the determination of this planning application that the applicant has "begun" the installation of mezzanine floorspace totalling 3,259 sq m within the unit prior to the relevant Development Order coming into force. Therefore this level of mezzanine floorspace is capable of implementation, and reconfiguration, without requiring further planning permission. This therefore establishes our clients "fallback position" in respect of this application."

Changes to national planning legislation in 2006 included an exemption for the completion of mezzanine floorspace where work had "begun" before the development order was made.

The application includes contracts, building control documents and photos showing that work had "begun" back in 2005 before the work was suspended.

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The owners are applying for 3,680 sq m but in any case believe that the planning legislation allows them to install the "protected" mezzanine floorspace of 3,259 sq m and then undertake separate works to install the additional mezzanine floorspace sought of 421 sq m in 200 sq m parcels without the need for planning permission.

The agents add: "The planning application proposal does not seek an increase in retail floorspace above what is "protected" and then capable of implementation without planning permission being required. However planning permission is sought for the applicant's preferred mezzanine in the interests of speed, cost and sustainability."

Similar approaches to installing mezzanine levels have previously been accepted by Rotherham Council for the Primark and H&M units at Parkgate.

The application does not make clear which retailer will use the additional space if and when the mezzanine is completed. In other UK retail parks, Matalan has sub-let space to other retailers, including Farmfoods and Carpetright.

Parkgate Shopping website
BMO websitehttp://www.bmorep.com/

Images: ESH / SmithYoung

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News: Primark to open new Rotherham store

High street fashion chain Primark is to open a new store at Parkgate Shopping in Rotherham, relocating from the High Street in the town centre.

Sitting alongside M&S and Curry's/PC World, the new Primark store will occupy 33,100 sq ft of retail space over two levels and will create over 40 new jobs, bringing the total number of employees to 107.

Plans were approved earlier this year for alterations and a mezzanine level at Unit 14a which was vacated when national retailer BHS went into liquidation in 2016.

The design of the new store will build on Primark's latest contemporary shop fit and will include a new double-height glazed frontage and with signage zones and an extension to the mezzanine trading level. Primark has been the No. 1 named retailer that Parkgate Shopping customers would like to see introduced for a number of years.

Zvi Noé, director of Investments at BMO Real Estate Partners, said: "Since the purchase of Parkgate Shopping, we have been looking at ways of improving what it has to offer our customers. We are extremely excited to be welcoming a brand new Primark store. As one of the most desirable retailers in the UK, attracting a store of this size to Parkgate Shopping underlines the improvements we continue to make."

Works by the landlord are set to commence next week with the store opening later in 2017.

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In a transaction worth around £175m, BMO Real Estate Partners (BMO) acquired Parkgate Shopping in September 2015 from the Hercules Unit Trust (HUT).

Following new branding and signage, the owners have committed to making significant changes in the coming year with the further injection of over £5m of capital investment. Work is already on site with the construction of a new Costa Coffee drive-thru in the car park outside Wilko's and Pets at Home and this is due to open in July.

Further capital is being invested in the old Brantano unit to accommodate Holland & Barrett and Shoezone to Parkgate Shopping and these works are nearing completion on site. These sub-division works include the replacement of the outdated frontages with modern, double-height glazed frontages, new signage zones and improvements to pedestrian access to these units whilst opening up sightlines.

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Carolyn Sparshott, Asset Manager - Out of Town Retail at BMO Real Estate Partners, said: "We are passionate about Parkgate Shopping and ensuring it remains something that our local/loyal shoppers can be proud of.

"The arrival of Primark continues the success in bringing top retailers to Parkgate Shopping. This follows on from the redevelopment project for Nando’s and Subway, and continues the improvements to the retailer line-up (H&M, Card Factory and The Works) which were made during 2015/2016. With the arrival of Primark, Holland & Barrett, Shoezone and a new Costa Coffee Drive-thru in the next year, Parkgate Shopping continues to evolve and provide our shoppers with a first-class experience."

Primark website
Parkgate Shopping website

Images: BMO

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