A Norwich café and furniture shop in the city centre is on the move after years of searching for the right location.
The team at Warings furniture shop and cafe has been looking for new premises since 2014 after planning permission was granted for its current location, Crystal House on Cattle Market Street to be converted into eight flats.
The shop is moving to Westlegate and will be in the white thatched building next to the All Saints Church and Rachael Waring, joint managing director of Warings, said it was important for the company to find the right premises.
'We have been looking for the 'right' premises for our retail store move for a few years as we always knew that the existing site was not a long term option due to development plans,' she said. 'It was important that we had an historic building of local importance in order to create a similar atmosphere to our gorgeous current store.'
Work has recently finished on the pedestrianisation of Westlegate which means shoppers can now walk along the former road from St Stephens Street to All Saints Green and Mrs Waring hopes that the location of the shop will help to attract a wider variety of customers.
She said: 'As fabulous as Crystal House on Cattle Market Street has been; the location has meant that we have always been a 'destination store' having to entice shoppers to a non-traditional shopping area.
'The excitement with the move is that we can now bring our product range and café to a wider customer base as we will be in a much more traditional shopping zone with a significantly higher footfall.
'The development of the Timber Hill area will also provide a positive effect to the street with the passageway linking the two running along the length of our new store.'
The shop will continue to be the main stockist of Farrow & Ball paint in the city centre with new ranges being added. The café will be enhanced with a wider food and drink selection and the company are pending licence approval to sell a small range of alcoholic beverages.
Plans for the building have been submitted to Norwich City Council and the company are hoping to complete the move before the end of the year.
Mrs Waring added: 'We are making every effort to be open by early December, however, there is every chance that delays may cause a hiccup building works being what they are.
'Fingers crossed we can achieve the December goal as we would love to launch during that exciting pre-Christmas period.'
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here