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Newbury BID delighted to welcome multiple new businesses to town

Goat on the Roof

There’s a notable buzz around Newbury as local residents and visitors take advantage of the new and exciting business ventures cropping up in the town centre.  

Floral Beauts becomes the latest retailer to arrive in Newbury with its beautifully decorated store laden with pampas grass, dried flowers, and fresh flower arrangements on Northbrook Street, close to Newbury’s iconic Clock House. 

The opening of this independently-owned flower shop follows a triple-whammy of new openings for Newbury in June as Fit Cookie, The Goan Caff, and Eat.Drink.Distil all opened their doors to the public at the start of the month. Each business brings something new and unique to the town. 

Floral Beauts

Health food and supplement store, Fit Cookie, provides an oasis for local sports and fitness fanatics at their venue on Bartholomew Street. The Goan Caff just up the road brings a slice of Goa with their speciality coffee shop, run by husband-and-wife duo, the Rebelos. The café provides delicious teas, flavoured coffees, and hearty baguettes for mums on the run and hungry people about town. 

Lumber Distillers, the company behind the renowned137 Gin, has opened a new venue of its kind for the town; a gin experience bar and eatery: Eat.Drink.Distil in Parkway Shopping. Pete Lumber leaves behind his previous venture at The Newbury pub, which has also recently re-opened under new management.  

These businesses were hot on the heels of Newbury’s newest restaurant, Goat on the Roof, which occupies the bank building overlooking the canal on Bridge Street. This ethically focused British Tapas Restaurant and Wine Bar opened on 3rd May and offers a Spanish twist on the best of organic and sustainable produce from around the British Isles. 

Around the corner Turkuaz- a new Turkish restaurant – is preparing to take over the previous Bella Italia unit, and Italian-chain Zizzi’s is currently recruiting for its new restaurant in the old Strada unit, both of which will join the existing eateries, pubs, and cafés in the Market Place. 

Sushizen, a Japanese restaurant, is due to open on Bartholomew Street in August and is expected to be welcomed with open arms following the closure of much-loved restaurant of the same cuisine, Arigato. Furthermore, a premises license application has been received for a new bar in the unit previously occupied by the Hog & Hedge coffee shop on Northbrook Street.  

And it’s not just hospitality venues opening en masse in Newbury, as multiple new retailers are due to open or re-locate to bigger venues across the town centre. 

Brown Paper Loves opened in Inches Yard back in Easter bringing all things craft, stationery, and haberdashery to Newbury, and Framemaker Galleries has re-opened in its former unit on Northbrook Street following a break from business in its Newbury store lasting several years. 

There have been 7 businesses open in Parkway Shopping alone this year, following the successful opening of Honesty Café at the beginning of the year.  

Suit Direct, a new smart wear store, opened last week and Robert Goddard is due to open Saturday 9th July, as Newbury’s go-to designer store. Selling locally made gifts and goods, Artisans Handmade, and skiwear specialists, Montagne Snow and Walk, also both opened their doors under temporary licenses in the open-air shopping venue 

Additionally, school uniform suppliers, Skoolkit, will be re-locating from the Kennet Centre to a bigger unit in Parkway this year, following in the footsteps of its new neighbour Isabel’s Retro, a vintage and retro clothing brand that will soon be celebrating its one-year anniversary in Parkway.  

If that’s not enough to celebrate, Forrest Motorsports will be opening a new virtual reality experience in one of Newbury’s hidden gems at Weaver’s Walk. Set to attract Formula 1 and sports car enthusiasts from across the region, the Esports and motorsports simulation company will offer competitive price points to appeal to new markets and complement the existing offering at the ever-popular Podium Place outside of the town centre.  

Melissa Hughes, CEO at Newbury BID, said: 

We’re delighted to see such a variety of new businesses open in Newbury this year - particularly in more recent months - and are pleased business owners recognise Newbury’s potential.

We have been working hard alongside other town centre partners to raise Newbury’s profile as a visitor and business destination, and we hope this is just the beginning of Newbury’s growth, as the hunger to open a business in the town centre only increases!"

Warwick Heskins, Chair of Newbury BID and owner of the Catherine Wheel and Spare Wheel, says: 

It’s great to see Newbury’s offering strengthen, with these new businesses bringing something unique and different to complement the existing businesses already lining Newbury’s historic streets.

It’s important that businesses owners - particularly those running independent venues - collaborate to create a strong community which helps to establish a sense of place for Newbury and ultimately attract new visitors.”

Andrew Marmot, Centre Manager at Parkway Shopping, adds: 

“We’re happy to offer new businesses the opportunity to test the waters in Newbury as a pop-up store should a vacant unit be available in Parkway. We strongly feel that this is important for business owners, as it helps them to understand the opportunity at hand.

Many businesses who take a temporary lease with us end up staying with us on a longer-term contract. This demonstrates the need for pop-up opportunities and the positive state of the trading environment in Parkway Shopping and the town centre as a whole.”

Reagan Rebelos, at The Goan Caff, says:  

“We’re very excited to be a part of this bustling town and look forward to welcoming more and more residents and visitors to The Goan Caff so they can see how we differ from other cafes on the high street, while experiencing exceptional service with a smile- which I know rings true for most the independent businesses in Bartholomew Street!”

For a list of all of Newbury’s businesses, including independent and national brands, please click here, and to see our Newbury Independent Retail map, click here

To find out more about what’s happening in Newbury this summer, click here

For a list of events taking place in Newbury town centre and beyond, click here.

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