Ruddick's Newsagents Wood Street, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA1

LOCATION

Ruddicks Newsagents & Post Office is located on Wood Street, in the Botcherby suburb of Carlisle, less than a minutes walk from Warwick Road, one of the main arterial routes into Carlisle City Centre.

Carlisle is just over a mile away to the east and has a great to deal to offer, including historic attractions and a vibrant pedestrianised centre with shops, bars, art gallery and a cinema. Carlisle Train Station, on the West Coast Main Line, provides travel time to London in around three and a half hours. Carlisle has a residential population of 75,000 and an estimated catchment population of 235,000. As well as being the dominant shopping location, it is also the administrative centre in Cumbria and the Borders.

Located just 10 miles south of the Scottish border, the nearby M74/A74 offers a direct route north with the M6 motorway to the south giving excellent transport links to the rest of England. Newcastle (56 miles to the east), Glasgow (90 miles north west), Edinburgh (93 miles to the north) and York (120 miles to the south east) are all readily accessible via the main road links.

Botcherby itself has plentiful local amenities including a range of independent retail businesses and a large residential catchment with a wide and varied selection of housing.

DESCRIPTION

1A and 1B Wood Street is an attractive corner premises, constructed over 2 levels with the business trading from the ground floor and good sized living accommodation to the first floor. The frontage is whitewashed and has display panels, eye catching signage to the front and roller shutter doors on the front window and door.

Retail Element
Internally the shop is laid out in traditional style with the main Post Office counter located towards the rear of the property offering one service counter. There is a centrally positioned double sided aisle gondola offering a range of groceries. The interior walls house various products on offer from newspapers and magazines, stationary, confectionary and other grocery products.

Towards the rear of the premises on the ground floor are storage facilities, staff office and staff WC.

First Floor Flat
The first floor living accommodation is accessed via an external staircase via a shared access to the rear of the property and comprises of an entrance leading to the kitchen / lounge area, two bedrooms and bathroom. The flat is in excellent condition and could be used immediately for living accommodation.

ACCOMMODATION

The retail element of 1A Wood Street provides an approximate net internal floor area as follows:

Ground Floor Shop 61.24 sq m (659 sq ft)
Ground Floor Ancillary 12.71 sq m (137 sq ft)

Total Approximate Net Internal Area 73.95 sq m (796 sq ft)

The first floor residential flat provides a gross internal area as follows:

First Floor Flat 49.07 sq m (528.25 sq ft)

THE BUSINESS

An opportunity to purchase this family run newsagents, local store and Post Office, due to the planned retirement of one of the Directors. The current family have owned the business for 15 years and the retiring Director worked in the shop for the 20 years prior to owning it. They have built up a wonderful reputation for both friendly service and looking after the needs of the many customers who use the business.

As a Local Post Office the business offers all expected services such as letters, parcels and bill payments, which generates excellent footfall benefitting the newsagency side of the business along with the full range of groceries, newspapers, cigarettes and alcohol.

The Post Office has recently been converted into the new open counter version with the till area of the shop and Post Office having recently been refurbished.

The first floor flat is in excellent condition and is ready for renting out with a monthly income of approximately £400 per month.

TRADING FIGURES

Full trading profit and loss accounts will be made available to seriously interested parties only after formally viewing the business.

STAFF

There are currently 9 members of staff, with most staff working around 20 hours per week. There are also 4 paperboys covering the newspaper delivery side of the business.

OPENING HOURS

Monday to Saturday 06.30am to 19.30pm
Sunday 06.30am to 14.30pm

SERVICES

We are advised that all mains services are connected. Please note we have not tested the services therefore no judgement is made in respect of their current condition.

Prospective purchasers should make their own enquiries as to the services available for future use.

VAT

All figures quoted are exclusive of VAT where applicable.

RATEABLE VALUE

The VOA website states that 1 Wood Street, Botcherby has a Rateable Value of £4,750 and is described as a shop & premises.

COUNCIL TAX

The residential flat is assessed for Council Tax purposes within Band A.

ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATE

It is understood that the commercial premises have an Energy Performance Asset Rating of C61 and the residential property has a Rating of E.

Copies of the Energy Performance Certificates are available upon request.

PROPOSAL

The freehold interest of the property is available to include the site and buildings, business goodwill, fixtures and fittings plus stock at valuation.

LEGAL COSTS

Each party to bear their own legal costs in the preparation and settlement of the sale documentation together with any VAT thereon.

VIEWING

The property is available to view by prior appointment with the Carlisle Office of Edwin Thompson LLP. Contact:

Ruth Richardson /
Suzie Barron


IMPORTANT NOTICE

Edwin Thompson for themselves and for the Vendor of this property, whose Agents they are, give notice that:
1. The particulars are set out as a general outline only for the guidance of intending purchasers and do not constitute, nor constitute part of, any offer or contract.
2. All descriptions, dimensions, plans, reference to condition and necessary conditions for use and occupation and other details are given in good faith and are believed to be correct, but any intending purchasers should not rely on them as statements or representations of fact but must satisfy themselves by inspection or otherwise as to their correctness.
3. No person in the employment of Edwin Thompson has any authority to make or give any representation or warranty whatsoever in relation to this property or these particulars, nor to enter into any contract relating to the property on behalf of the Agents, nor into any contract on behalf of the Vendor.
4. No responsibility can be accepted for loss or expense incurred in viewing the property or in any other way in the event of the property being sold or withdrawn.
5. These particulars were prepared in August 2021.