A Bury-headquartered business sales specialist has hailed the sale of three food and drink businesses in the borough since mid-February as a “vote of confidence” in the town’s economic future. Blacks Business Brokers, which is based in St Mary’s Place, was able to complete all three sales in February despite the ongoing national lockdown.
The businesses that changed hands were Dolly’s Kitchen on Bolton Road, near Bury Town Centre, Daphne’s Sandwich Shop on Parkhills Road in Fishpool and The Village Pantry on Butterstile Lane in Prestwich. All three were sold to new owners who intend to continue running them along similar lines.
Dolly’s Kitchen was sold to new owner Ashley Logan by Lisa Brennan, who had operated the Bolton Road sandwich bar since 2018 but now wishes to emigrate. Similar businesses have traded from the premises for more than 20 years.
Daphne’s Sandwich Shop was first established on Parkhills Road in 2000 and was taken over by Debra Melia in 2012. Having decided to semi-retire, Ms Melia has now sold the business to new owner Janet Yuen.
The Village Pantry, which was first established in 2004, was taken over by Mukmeer Oozeer in 2018. The business has now been bought by Marie Rowe in a deal that will enable Ms Oozeer to concentrate on family commitments.
John Gaskell, director at Blacks Business Brokers, said, “Sandwich bars cater overwhelmingly to people who work locally so these three deals, completed in the depths of winter and the middle of a national lockdown, should be seen as a real vote of confidence in Bury’s future. All three are in excellent locations and I am sure their new owners will enjoy great success as the economy reopens.
“More generally, the expectation in the commercial property industry is that, as we look to a post-Covid future, we will see a shift not so much to widespread homeworking as to employers moving many of their office staff out from costly, congested city centres and into well-connected satellite towns like Bury.
“City centres will retain a vital, but different, role as social hubs, with many companies realising it is more efficient for everyone if they move their workplaces closer to their workers. That can only be good news for towns like Bury and Prestwich – and, of course, for the businesses that provide those workers with their lunch.”
As well as the three Bury sandwich bars, Blacks also completed the sale of Griffin Batteries to new owner Zeeshan Ali during February. Griffin Batteries, which was founded by Martin Griffin in 1982, operated a branch on Bolton Road for many years.
This branch closed in 2020 as part of a process of consolidation. The car, motorcycle, mobility, leisure and industrial battery specialist now operates from its main premises in Oldham.
Blacks currently has a number of food and drink businesses for sale in Bury, including fish & chip shops and town centre cafes.
