11 bedsits planned for well-known shop site

NEW PROPOSAL FOR FORMER CLOTHES STORE

FRESH plans have been drawn up for what was one of Leicester’s best known shops.

The Christopher Scotney menswear store in London Road has stood empty for around a year-and-a-half – but now there are proposals to convert it into a house of multiple occupation.

Steve Finch has lodged proposals with Leicester City Council to turn the former fashion retail premises into 11 bedsits.

Officers at the council are considering the scheme, which is likely to supersede other plans, from last year, to turn the property into an ice cream parlour.

Those plans were approved by the city council this summer but have not got off the ground and now a residential use is being proposed by Mr Finch for the three-storey building on the junction with Highfield Street.

Junaid Khan, 30, who lives in Highfields, said: “It was one of those shops you always like the thought of being there but never actually thought to go into to buy anything.

“I suppose someone was always going to try to turn it into flats.

“It would have been nice to see another shop or restaurant but the existing ones are struggling and clinging on now, so I’m not surprised it hasn’t happened.”

A combination of factors were blamed for the demise of the store, which traded for more than four decades until last February.

Though the Scotney’s brand was popular with many customers and enjoyed a prominent position in a busy retail area, it latterly struggled in the face of the ever-growing online clothes market.

At the time it closed, Neil Money of CBA Business Solutions, in New Walk, Leicester, which handled the affairs of the family-owned company, said: “More recently the business has been struggling, largely due to luxury brand suppliers changing their terms of trading, which has made trading difficult for many small independent businesses.

“The main suppliers have forced increased spends for the retailer to retain the brand.

“They have also prevented selling via certain channels and implemented challenging payment terms.

“As a small business, Scotney’s has struggled with the huge investment required to compete online and concentrated on their bricks and mortar store.”

The city council is now considering the latest set of plans for the building.