By Brad Barnes

brad.barnes@jpimedia.co.uk

A new urban restaurant could soon be taking shape in a prime Peterborough city centre location.

Two city property investors have drawn up plans for the change of use of a former jeweller’s in Exchange Streetoverlooking St John’s Square - which was for generations the Charles Bright store which closed in 2016.

And they are in negotiations to being a gourmet grill restaurant franchise to the site before the summer.

The 50-seat restaurant will have canopies and seating at the front - just like its neighbour Turtle Bay - injecting even more new life into what has become a booming part of the city centre for food and drink .

And that is part of the appeal for Azar Iqbal and Mohammed Amjad, of Landmark Invest Ltd, which also brought the Chaiiwala cafe brand to the city from Leicester.

Azar said as property investors their first interest was in snapping up the building, but felt its future did not lie as a retail outlet.

“100 per cent that was the case,” he said. “That area now is strong for food and drink and that was the route we decided to go down.

“We have put in an application for the change of use to an urban restaurant and are in negotiation for a franchise gourmet concept from Leicester which we shall run ourselves, not a third party .

“We hope to confirm that in the next few weeks, and in that time we hope to get the planning consent through.

“The intention is to be open for the summer.”

They will off course be joining the likes of nearby Five Lads on Cowgate and Nando on Cathedral Square - and at a date to be confirmed another national brand in Five Guys on the opposite side of St John’s Church.

“We know about Five Guys but that is a blue chip brand and will be good for the area long term.

“People now are health conscious and want more than burger and chips so we will have grilled chicken.

“And the big brands are expensive - we will be looking at

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closer to £7 to £8 meals but still offering the quality people want.

“And we want to try to take the halal market in the city centre.”

News of the as yet unnamed restaurant is not the only positive move on the city centre food and drink scene this week.

Work has started inside the former Chimichanga restaurant which will be home to Five Guys some time this year, with the company already applying to the city council for a premises licence.

The new owner of the former Sundays roast dinner restaurant building on Cumbergate has been granted permission to refurbish the building for restaurant use. And there has been some interest recently in the empty Mania Pizza and Dim Sum Inn premises on Cowgate.