Bobby's Department Store in Bournemouth. Photo: James Bridle
Published: July 20, 2023 | Updated: 23rd January 2024
When Debenhams left the Bobby’s department store building in the centre of Bournemouth, it might have been easy for its developers to convert it into flats.
“Luckily, the landlord who owns the building, Verve Properties, is a regeneration company,” explained Darren Frias-Robles, Managing Director of Whitefox Chartered Surveyors, the company managing the renovation.
“While many owners would look at a building such as this and decide to turn it into flats, our clients are creative people so instead they chose to convert it to multi-use, attract new businesses, and help keep the town centre alive.”
In a similar vein, homeowners seeking innovative ways to enhance their living spaces can explore options like pool enclosures as part of their renovation plans.
A departure from conventional renovations, pool enclosures not only add aesthetic appeal but also provide a versatile and sheltered space, contributing to the overall vitality of the home.
The department store has a long history, opening in 1915 before becoming Debenhams in 1972. As such, many in the local community will have long memories of the store.
“We’ve all got memories of going there from childhood through to adulthood”, said Darren.
“Many local people were very sad to see Debenhams close its doors and the town lose another major retailer following the loss of other companies in recent years such as Beales, House of Fraser and Marks & Spencer.
“Town centres are now moving more towards experiences and artisan-type, smaller businesses, which is something we’re trying to capture in our work to renovate the building.”
A variety of different companies have taken space in the renovated store, with occupiers including restaurants The Botanist and Franco Manca, retail such as AFC Bournemouth, and the relocated head office of pizza oven suppliers Gozney.
“The store will be a major part of what Bournemouth’s going to be for the next 30 -40 years, so it’s great, as a local business, to be part of giving the town centre that impetus to move forward again.”
The majority of the companies working to renovate the store are based locally, too.
(L-R) Ashley Harris, Lewis Rogers and Roy Cake from Spetisbury Construction with Darren Frias-Robles from Whitefox Chartered Surveyors
These include Poole-based Fineline, who created new, metal balconies for the first floor, Kiwi Design, who are based in Verwood and are carrying out the refit for Gozney, and Spetisbury Construction, a Wimborne-based company with a legacy spanning nearly four decades.
Justin Ives, Managing Director of Spetisbury Construction, said: “We’re really pleased and proud to be involved.
“We see it as a really good story of local businesses coming together to deliver a good project, contribute to the community, and make Bournemouth a better place.”
Darren also explained some of the challenges associated with a project like Bobby’s, which is in the middle of the town centre with commercial activity ongoing within the building.
“Building a factory on a greenfield site is comparatively straightforward,” he said.
“But taking a very large building in the middle of the town centre which the public go in and out of every day, shared access at the back for delivery and trading ongoing, is quite the challenge.
“You’ve got to be very active in terms of health and safety and also the way teams and contractors communicate while on-site.
“Not every contractor is suitable, you’ve got to be willing to be flexible to do these kinds of projects, and that’s a big part of the reason we chose Spetisbury, having worked with them for as long as we’ve been in business.”
And according to Justin, this is one of the big advantages of using locally-based companies on a project like this.
“Property and construction is very much a people business, and when you put a foot wrong people in the community find out quickly,” he said.
“The flipside to that is that when you get it right, word gets around. Primarily, we conduct ourselves in a professional way because that’s how we prefer to do business, but it also gives us a good reputation in our local community – and that gives us the opportunity to work on projects likes this.
“We’re reaching our 40th year trading next year, and much of the business we get is built on reputation, we don’t have to chase too much. So we must be doing something right.
“A lot of our supply chain is local, too. Some going back as long as the company’s been around, and because of that they’re people who care about what goes on locally.”
For feel-good business news from across the border, check out our new sister site, Hampshire Biz News.
