Planning secured for new Costa Coffee shop in Stoke-on-Trent

UK residential and commercial property developer, Godwin Developments has last week gained planning permission to deliver a new coffee shop in Stoke-on-Trent for the UK’s leading coffee operator Costa Coffee.

Located off the A50 Baths Road in Longton, the drive-to and drive-thru store will be built next to the busy Phoenix Retail Park, a Tesco Extra supermarket and a McDonalds fast-food restaurant. The development, which will be accessed from Baths Road, will include parking for 37 cars, with three additional disabled spaces and one waiting bay, and will serve local residents as well as the 60,000 vehicles passing the site daily.

Godwin plans to demolish the existing structure on site and build two modern retail units to replace it. The larger unit, measuring 1,800 sq. ft., has been designed to cater precisely to Costa Coffee’s specification and layout requirements. The neighbouring 1,100 sq. ft. unit, which will be constructed at the same time, will be made available to other potential occupiers.

Ketan Patel, senior development manager at Godwin Developments, said: “We are really pleased to have secured planning permission for this prominent drive-thru and drive-to scheme in Stoke-on-Trent. The outcome of this application is not only great news for us, but also for our client Costa Coffee who is pushing on with plans to grow their market share and are investing in resilient development with stores that can serve customers through the pandemic and beyond.

“We would like to thank planners and councillors at Stoke-on-Trent City Council for their support with this scheme; Ophir Architecture for their outstanding design; consultants Simply Planning for their advice on this development and agents Rapleys for their assistance with the acquisition and letting of the site. We look forward to commencing construction of the development in the second quarter of this year.”

Stuart Pratt, group development director at Godwin Developments, added: “We are delighted to have secured the green light for this scheme from the planners at Stoke-on-Trent council less than a year after we acquired this prominent site in the city. This announcement highlights yet again our ability to secure leading commercial sites and obtain permission to commence construction quickly and efficiently. It is precisely the reason why we are continuing to successfully gain sites across the country for similar developments and why well-known national brands such as Costa Coffee trust us to deliver.”

Susan Agnew, acquisition manager from Costa Coffee, said: “We are very pleased to hear news of the planning approval for our new store in Stoke-on-Trent which can now move on to the next stage of its delivery. I would like to thank Godwin Developments for their expedient and very professional approach throughout the process to-date, and look forward to working with them to extend our presence in the city and the wider West Midlands area.”

Jonathan Jones, retail & leisure specialist at Rapleys, welcomed the news saying: “We had every confidence in the Godwin team and their advisers in delivering an acceptable planning permission for this development. Given the previous use of the site and its excellent location with complementary surrounding uses, it is ideal for a coffee drive-thru and indeed a further food-to-go retail unit. Further details on the available unit on site are available by contacting us at Rapleys.com or on 0370 7776292.”

News of the planning permission comes less than a month after Godwin Developments was granted approval for their roadside and convenience retail scheme Ram Jam Services in Rutland.

For media information, please contact Holly Hill or Tom Home at Cartwright Communications on 07738 355 316