Huge new furniture store: what it shows about Harrogate town centre

The Cotswold Company, the Norwich-based furniture and home furnishings retailer, has committed to the take a lease of a newly configured 8,000 sq ft store on Station Parade in Harrogate, with a spring 2019 opening planned.

The Harrogate Advertiser series reported in June that a space on Station Parade covering 8,000 sq ft, would be newly configured from the four units previously occupied by Raft, Games Workshop, Indulge café and Santander.

Now we can reveal that the new occupant will be The Cotswold Company, which is based in Norwich (not to be confused with Cotswold Outdoor).

Commercial property group CEG is managing the creation of the new store, which will be handed over to The Cotswold Company’s fit-out contractors just before Christmas with a view to starting work in January 2019.

Tom Limbert of Central Retail, which advised CEG alongside Leeds-based Pudney Shuttleworth, said: “Whilst the mid-market fashion brands such as H&M and Topshop have closed in the town centre, Harrogate still remains a very attractive location for the high-end, quality retailers.

“With Next having agreed to upsize in the town centre, Harrogate is faring a lot better than many other towns and cities across the UK.”

Letting agent Richard Shuttleworth ofPudney Shuttleworth said: “Against the current national retailing backdrop, this really is wonderful news for Harrogate, where there have been a number of recent high-profile closures.

“The Cotswold Company has a significant and very successful online presence, along with four stores in Norwich, Chelmsford, Stow-on-the-Wold and Godalming. This deal, which involves a significant investment in the region of £1m, demonstrates CEG and The Cotswold Company’s continued faith in bricks and mortar retailing, while many other occupiers are scaling back their high-street representation.”

Paul Richardson, investment manager at CEG, said: “This transaction has been in the making for some time and a great deal of work has been undertaken behind the scenes to make it happen. We are absolutely delighted that The Cotswold Company has selected Station Parade as its ideal location in Harrogate and are very excited to see the completion of the project and store opening early next year.

“In addition to the combination works, significant improvements will be made to create a new double height shop front as a showcase for this high-quality brand.”

CEG manages a number of buildings in Harrogate, including the town’s tallest building, Exchange Parade, and its largest office development, Central House.

Tom Keyes-Toyer of SiteWorks Retail Real Estate Services acted for The Cotswold Company.