Bristol-based independent café chain Boston Tea Party is to open its sixth branch in the city this autumn after agreeing terms on a prominent unit at a new neighbourhood centre.
Fitting out of the 4,556 sq ft outlet in The Square, Cheswick Village, Stoke Gifford, will begin shortly. It will be Boston Tea Party’s 19th café opened by the group since it was founded in 1996.
The café chain is joining the Co-op, Barnardo’s, Happy Days Nursery and Fair and Fresh Produce, which have all opened in the past six months at The Square. Boston Tea Party has taken the unit on a new 15-year lease,
The letting was negotiated by Bristol-based property consultancy Alder King on behalf of Havard Estates, the Wiltshire developer behind the 29,500 sq ft retail centre.
Two other units totalling 2,062 sq ft at The Square are in solicitors’ hands, meaning the scheme is now nearly 50% let or under offer.
Havard is also developing 93 residential units, 40 of them affordable, in what is describes as a “vibrant, contemporary village centre, set around a tree-lined square”.
Retirement home developer McCarthy & Stone is building 32, one and two-bedroom apartments nearby.
Alder King retail agency team member Rebecca Harries said: “Neighbourhood schemes like this play an important role in new communities, providing day-to-day needs and local employment and helping to create a ‘sustainable’ community.
“Here we have a diverse and complementary occupier mix providing goods and services which are much valued by the local community and Boston Tea Party will make an excellent addition.”
The four remaining units at The Square, which was developed last year, provide from 1,300 sq ft to 9,968 sq ft individually or combined.
The 1,000-home Cheswick Village development is close to the MoD’s Abbey Wood headquarters and UWE.
Boston Tea Party also has branches in Exeter, Worcester, Cheltenham, Salisbury and Birmingham. Its Plymouth outlet, opened last year, won a major national award for its interior café design.
More cafés in the South West and Midlands are planned this year.
Pictured: The Square at Cheswick Village
