Tamworth Co-operative Society bosses say a new convenience store to be built on the site of the former Dosthill Cosmopolitan Club will boost the area’s facilities and create around 20 jobs. The modern store will stock a wide range of fresh food products and will have its own 22-bay parking area for customers.
Tamworth Co-op chief executive Julian Coles says the decision to build a new convenience store in Dosthill shows the Society is not standing still as a business.
“We believe this will be a superb new facility for Dosthill people,” said chief executive Julian Coles.
“With the obvious exception of the main supermarket in Church Street, it will be one of our largest and most up-to-date convenience stores, with 3,000 sq. ft. of retail space. It will also benefit from state-of-the-art refrigeration and fresh food displays.”
The new store will be next to Dosthill Primary School and Mr Coles says the Society sought the views of the head teacher early on in the planning procedure.
“We have been serving the Tamworth community for more than 125 years and we are sensitive to local views and issues,” he said.
“The school will be our neighbour and right from the beginning we wanted their input on what was being proposed to ensure they were happy with the arrangements. The needs and safety of children have been carefully considered along with various other aspects including the aesthetics of the building.”
Mr Coles added that a plan is now in place which will ensure both building work and future food deliveries are safely managed and cause minimal interruption.
“An example of this is that there will be no deliveries whatsoever during peak periods,” he said.
“This development also shows that we are not standing still as a business. We are always prepared to invest in this area when we spot opportunities which also benefit the local community.”
Food currently accounts for around 80 per cent of the Society’s turnover and the Dosthill branch will bring its total number of convenience stores to 14.
A spokesperson for developers Hinton Properties said:
“We are delighted to be involved with this development and look forward to working together with the local community and project partners to deliver one of the most up-to-date convenience stores, boosting the area’s facilities and creating jobs in the process.”
Work is due to begin in August, 2014 and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.