Pictured above: Pittville Street, Cheltenham

A fully-let, extensively refurbished retail investment property in Cheltenham has exchanged hands in a £1.2million deal, Worcestershire-based Barberry Developments has announced.

Barberry sold the 6,800 sq ft property in Pittville Street, Cheltenham, to a family trust after carrying out a full renovation programme of the former TSB bank.

Director Henry Bellfield said the company bought the vacant property in 2008 in a dilapidated state. It had transformed it into an attractive mixed-use scheme occupied by two retailers and a ladies-only gym with an annual rental income of £100,000.

Barberry decided to sell the property to release funds to reinvest in other opportunities it had earmarked in what Mr Bellfield described as "a change of direction" for the Belbroughton-based developers.

The Regency-style property, occupied by CEX Ltd, The Phone Zone and Ladytone, is located just off the high street in Cheltenham town centre which has 1.3 million sq ft of retail floorspace and includes multiple national retailers such as Marks and Spencer, House of Fraser, Next and Primark.

Mr Bellfield said: "The rationale behind selling is to look to reinvest the proceeds into new opportunities. This has been a very successful refurbishment and we would like to consider more similar projects.

"At Barberry we are very opportunity driven. The current market lends itself more to refurbishments because many new build projects need to command a rental level that isn't always sustainable in the present retail market conditions. Refurbishments may have existing tenants and this rental income will protect cashflow and income streams."

Property investment consultants Franck-Steier Price acted on behalf of Barberry.