Everards, the Leicestershire brewer and pub operator, has secured outline planning permission for a multi-million pound scheme to relocate to a new site that will encompass a craft brewery, pub, offices and visitor centre.
The scheme, on the land it owns between Castle Acres and the police headquarters, would also include restaurants and “progressive” food and drink manufacturers and retailers to create a “Food and Drink Cluster”, said Everards managing director Stephen Gould.
He said actual consent will not be granted until a number of legal agreements and compliance matters are in place. “This will include a referral to the Secretary of State. Additionally there are conditions and contributions attached to the resolution which we will spend the next few days looking at in detail.”
Gould added: “With a resolution to grant consent in place we can now commit time and money to fully detail our plans. Once done (which I expect will take the remainder of this year) we will share our detailed plans with Blaby District Council.”
The current site will need to be sold to facilitate the relocation. CBRE has been appointed to advise on options and will be present its proposals to Everards around September.
Gould said it’s “too early to tell” how long the process will take. “With so many variables it would be some time before an actual re-location timetable could be established.” The Secretary of State has 21 days to state if he wants to determine the application himself, which, if it happens, could delay the process by at least six months. However, Gould said this is unlikely.
On the reason to leave the current site, Gould said: “Our current brewery is not only too big for our needs but is now over 30 years old, which creates the natural challenges of higher repair costs, inefficiencies and being environmentally behind the times.”
