Iceland talks for Kennet Centre ongoing

Discussions between frozen food chain and Kennet Shopping revealed at Newbury Vision

ICELAND could be on its way back to Newbury if ongoing talks to bring the frozen food specialist to the Kennet Shopping centre are successful.

The supermarket giant closed its Newbury store on December 31 last year to make way for a new 61-bed retirement complex at its Pearl House site on Bartholomew Street.

At the conclusion of Newbury Vision, the opposition leader of Newbury Town Council, Martha Vickers (Lib Dem, Northcroft) asked what progress, if any, there was to bring Iceland back to the town.

In his response, Steve Gray, from Global Mutual, which is involved in the operations of the centre, said: “We dearly would like to have Iceland in the Kennet centre.

“Iceland have another operation, Food Warehouse group, which is forming a large part of their strategy for opening stores that is largely based on retail parks.

“We are getting their attention, but it has to be absolutely perfect.

“We’ve met them a couple of times, we’ve looked at a couple of options that weren’t viable and we are now presenting a third option to them to hopefully get them into the town centre.”

Meanwhile, two new arrivals have be en announced for Kennet Shopping.

Sundaes Gelato, which has a number of ice cream parlours across the UK, including Basingstoke and Oxford, is set to move in.

As well as ice creams, it also sells waffles and milkshakes.

Department store Shaws The Drapers, which also has stores throughout the country, was also unveiled as a new occupant.

No firm date has yet been set for either company to move in.