Pictured: (l-r) Paul Simmons (Innes England), Paul Hurst (Owner), Jason Smith (Bakewell & Partners) and Alec Hamlin (Blueprint)

A local café has relocated to one of the largest buildings on Sadler Gate in Derby, in a deal secured by Innes England.

Sadlergates Café, previously named Café B, has relocated to 19-20 Sadler Gate, and has transformed the building into a coffee house and deli on the ground floor and a restaurant and business lounge on the first floor. There is also an outdoor seating area. 

Innes England acted on behalf of the landlord Blueprint in the deal, which has also seen the building benefit from a complete external makeover. The front of the shop has been restored to look like it once did over one hundred years ago, as part of an initiative which has been part-funded by the Derby City Council & English Heritage Partnership Scheme and Blueprint.

Paul Hurst, the owner of Sadlergates, said: "We were previously based across the road and decided we needed to move to bigger premises so that we could start to do lunches and accommodate more people. We like the location as it is one of the main streets in Derby and benefits from a lot of passing trade, so this seemed like the ideal solution.

"As well as the expansion, we have also been lucky enough to benefit from the renovation work to the front of the building, which has taken around 18 months and now looks fantastic and gives the building a façade that looks like it did over a hundred years ago.

"We have really thought out the layout of the building internally too. The bottom floor is coffee shop and boutique wine bar in the evening (which has been trading for nearly a year), where we serve fine wines from around the world as well as fifty world beers. The top floor is a business lounge where people can hold meetings or simply have lunch in peace whilst using our facilities such as wi fi. We are really excited about opening the rest of the building up to the public which will include a new restaurant bringing a unique new dining experience to derby." 

Paul Simmons from Innes England says: "It was great to be involved in such a worthwhile project that supports the regeneration of the historic quarter of Derby. Paul really wanted to stay on Sadler Gate and, by moving across the road, the café has benefitted additionally from this superb scheme. Sadler Gate has a unique proposition in that it is the city's hub for independent businesses. It is a main thoroughfare in Derby linking the central retail core so Sadlergates will attract its regular customers and office workers at lunch time as well as benefitting from passersby in the day and evening."

Alec Hamlin of Blueprint said: "We have a number of properties of historical interest in Derby city centre, including several key properties in the Cathedral Quarter.  I think the scheme to bring back these old shop frontages is fantastic. There has been extensive work put in to the refurbishment of this building which will really improve the kerbside appeal on Sadler Gate. The Cathedral Quarter is Derby's independent shopping hub and with investments such as this, we are supporting the area after a challenging few years."

The new frontage of the cafe was designed by local architects Bakewell & Partners

Jason Smith, a partner at the firm says: "Much research went in to the design of the shop front. We went through hundreds of local history books and archive photos in order to produce an authentic, evidence based design.  The funding initiative aims to restore the original architectural detail of the building, so we had to ensure that we got it just right. 

"The final design was not only based on the findings of the research but also on what we discovered lay encased below the modern shop front. A lot of original building fabric was uncovered which required careful restoration. As well as the historical appearance, it was a challenge to accommodate modern building standards, such as DDA compliance. It was a year after the original design before the team even started on site."

For more information about Innes England, please visit their webisite here: www.innes-england.com