Senior councillors gave approval to purchase more properties in Stafford Town Centre as part of ambitious transformation plans.

At a meeting yesterday evening (Thursday 15th) Stafford Borough Council’s Cabinet unanimously agreed to purchase two more sites. Councillors were told money for the ‘key strategic’ sites in the centre of the county town had become available after contracts to purchase, and carry out work on, the former Co-op department store and Guildhall Shopping Centre came in under budget.

The money is part of more than £14 million the borough council secured from the government to help regenerate the town centre. It has already funded the revamp of the Market Square and improvements to the entrance and approach to Stafford Railway Station - which was completed this month.  

Work is ongoing on the demolition of part of the former department store and shopping centre. The historic frontages of both buildings will be retained with the council talking with investors on proposals for commercial, retail, and residential developments.

The identity of the potential two new acquisitions were contained in confidential sections of the report - due to commercial sensitivities - discussed by the senior councillors.  

Council Deputy Leader, Rob Kenney, who has responsibility for town centres, told the meeting: “It has been made possible to pursue these acquisitions through prudent finances that realised an underspend in the demolition costs of the Guildhall Shopping Centre and former Co-op store.

“They perfectly fit into our commitment to transforming the town centre in Stafford and form part of the wider regeneration programme.”  

He said it wasn’t possible to identify the sites at this stage because of ‘confidentiality’ but believed residents of the borough would agree with the remainder of the Future High Streets Fund grant being used for this purpose.

Councillor Kenney added: “The investment into all the acquisition sites will generate not only further investment into those sites but wider investment into Stafford town centre generally. Creating a place for people to visit, to live in, to shop in, to work in, and relax in. A town centre fit for a county town: a county town to be proud of.”

The report stated that “The deadline for securing contractual commitment for the two acquisitions supported by Future High Street Fund is September 2025, therefore informal initial conversations have already taken place with the current landowners. Both have indicated their willingness to progress the acquisitions in a suitable timescale, and Heads of Terms are in place, subject to Cabinet approvals.”

The shopping centre has been struggling for years with less than a handful of traders left inside and the former Co-op has been derelict for more than a decade. The council purchased the buildings to help speed up transformation of the town - and are preparing both sites to make them more attractive to investors and developers.

Leader of the Borough Council, Aidan Godfrey, said: “It is great to see how far work has progressed on the sites we have purchased - and that we have successfully negotiated prices for these works that have now allowed us to look at further acquisitions using the government funding. This is great news for our ambitious vision of transforming Stafford town centre.  

“We are meeting with a number of potential investors soon and will be able to demonstrate our ambition, and the progress we have already made, which I am sure will prove even more attractive to them.”

Significant investment has been made in the county town and includes other projects such as the Staffordshire History Centre and the £22.5m Institute of Technology for Stafford College which will soon be open to students. The government also confirmed earlier this year a fund of nearly £20 million to help regenerate the underutilised land behind the station with proposals that include a hotel, multi-storey car park and homes.

The public report can be found from Cabinet (6.30pm) - 15 May 2025 | Stafford Borough Council

Press Release No 6214