BOSSES at the East of England Co-operative Society announced today that it will shortly begin a £1.3million project to refurbish its Fiveways supermarket in Manningtree.
BOSSES at the East of England Co-operative Society announced today that it will shortly begin a £1.3million project to refurbish its Fiveways supermarket in Manningtree.
Work on the improvements to the store will commence in a few weeks' time and will be carried out on a phased basis to ensure the store can remain open, and a service is maintained to customers, the company said.
The project is expected to be completed before Christmas.
Richard Samson, chief executive, said: “Our commitment to refurbishing our supermarket in Manningtree is the latest stage in our multi-million pound, self-funded development programme right across East Anglia.
“Although we are still awaiting planning permission for our proposed store extension we are determined to provide a modern, state-of-the-art supermarket for the people of Manningtree and so we will now begin a major refurbishment of the store which will be completed this year.”
Work will include installing a new ceiling, energy efficient lighting, new refrigeration units and fixtures, and a new till scanning system, as well as retaining the in-store Post Office.
The new Co-op supermarket will also display the East of England Co-operative Society branding which is being rolled out to the society's stores across the region, as well as internal and external redecoration of the store.
A year ago the society applied for planning permission to build an extension to the store, in Riverside Avenue East, close to the river Stour.
However queries from the Environment Agency over the flood risk of the planned extension have prevented Tendring District Council from progressing the application.
The society has now decided to go ahead with the refurbishment of the store, while waiting for the planning consent on the extension.
Mr Samson added: “The news of this latest financial investment at Manningtree comes shortly after we have announced our intention to acquire Wherstead Park, Ipswich, which we anticipate will become our new head office and a prestigious regional business centre.”
Wherstead Park was until recently the base of energy firm E.On.
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