Retail Success in Thetford

We are pleased to continue to provide planning advice to the Breckland Retail Park in Thetford. In 2018 we obtained planning consent for the redevelopment of the former industrial site in London Road with 7,367 square metres of retail space and a separate restaurant. Since then, the retail units have been built and are now almost fully occupied which is a testament to the quality of the scheme and the attractiveness of the units to retailers.

We have continued to assist the developers with amendments to the planning application. Recently, we secured consent for Hughes Electrical to move into the units. Hughes are an important local retailer with a servicing and distribution centre already in Thetford. They wanted to move from their small shop in the town centre to the retail park in order to better compete with the other electrical retailers in the area who all operate from out of town stores. The existing planning consent for the Breckland Retail Park prevented the units being occupied by retailers from the town centre.

Following good local consultation and discussions with the Town Council we are pleased to have obtained consent that makes an exception for Hughes. This will allow them to move from a store that is not fit for purpose to one that meets their customers needs and which allows them to compete with the other electrical retailers and to create new jobs in the town.

The Breckland Retail Park is now almost fully let which is a great success in this difficult retail market.