Greggs site at Poole retail park could be one of UK's biggest

The national bakery chain will soon open a new site at the former Carphone Warehouse unit in the Wessex Gate Retail Park, which has been vacant for three years.

Boasting around 285 square metres in space, the site is expected to be considerably larger than most Greggs units across the UK.

Last year, a Greggs opened in a former 240sqm Pizza Hut unit at a retail park in Kilmarnock – which at the time was dubbed as one of the UK’s biggest.

BCP Council approved the application by site owners Wessex Gate Limited in October last year.

Vacant unit at Wessex Gate Retail Park set to become a Greggs (Image: Savills)

It has been vacant since Carphone Warehouse left the unit in 2020 to relocate into the Currys unit at Wessex Gate Retail Park as part of Carphone Warehouse’s national store rationalisation programme.

Following its approval, Greggs recently submitted applications for signs and external seating.

In its submission, planning agent Savills said: “The development is ‘locationally specific’ as it is physically and functionally linked to the wider site which is an established retail location in Poole.

“Rather than acting as a primary destination in its own right, the facility will meet the needs of the shoppers who already visit the wider site. Providing the same floor space elsewhere would not meet the same operator or customer need.”

Greggs was approached to comment on when the site is scheduled to open.