A NEW £2 million Spar store is set to create 30 new jobs in south Belfast.
The Henderson Group, which owns the Spar, Eurospar, Vivo, Vivoxtra and Vivo Essentials franchises in Northern Ireland, has confirmed that a new shop will open on
Sunnyside Street, off the Ormeau Road in November, The Irish News can reveal.
The current site, which has three retail units and a commercial premises, is to be demolished to pave the way for a new two storey building, comprising two ground floor retail units below six two-bedroom apartments.
Plans were initially approved in 2014 for a larger residential scheme comprising 25 apartments over two ground floor retail units, but development did not take place
at the site and it was put on the market the following year with a guide price of £450,000.
The Henderson Group Property and Whittaker and Watt architects submitted a fresh planning application in November 2016, which was approved last month.
Henderson Group Property director, Mark Adrain said he expects work to begin on the new store next month.
“Henderson Retail looks forward to starting works on a new, state-of-the-art Spar store on Sunnyside Street, Ormeau Road in May 2018. The new £2m investment will provide 30 new jobs for the local area, as well as additional retail unit space which will reside underneath six new apartments."
“The Spar store will provide services such as a post office, Barista Bar and hot food-to-go, as well as a range of fresh and ambient locally sourced products. The project is due to complete in November 2018.”
The Henderson Group is made up of four companies; Henderson Wholesale, Henderson Retail, Henderson Group Property and Henderson Foodservice. The family business is ranked 17th in the Top 100 Northern Ireland companies and operating out of its head office in Mallusk, employs 3,306 employees across the north.
