Heron Foods set to open its biggest store in former cinema

The former cinema building which will be home to the new Heron Foods store.

A FAMILY firm which has created more than 3,000 jobs in building a chain of 240 discount food stores is preparing to open its biggest outlet yet after securing a lease on a new site in Hull.

Heron Foods is completing the conversion of the former Priory Cinema in Spring Bank West, Hull, and expects to open the doors of the 7,000 square foot property by early April.

With a shop area of more than 5,600 square feet the store will be the biggest in a network which now stretches from Northampton in the south to Amble, Northumberland. It eclipses the sales area of 4,800 square feet which Heron Foods opened last year as the anchor unit of the Orchard Park Shopping Centre in Hull.

The company opened its first outlet in 1979 in Holderness Road, Hull, and is still owned by the same family, with Michael, David and Andrew Heuck buying the business when their father, Malcolm Heuck, retired in 2003.

Estates Director Jonathan Laverack said the expansion of the business was a natural progression. Milestones during the last 37 years have included reaching £1 million turnover per week in 1998, acquiring the first 44-tonne articulated HGV in 2000 and opening a purpose-build distribution centre at Melton in 2009.

Mr Laverack said: “All shops want to get bigger – all businesses want to get bigger – and we have expanded by opening single shops and on occasions by buying chains.

“We had a shop in Spring Bank West a few years ago but it was too small for us and when we first looked at the cinema site in 2007 it was too big for us, but as our range has increased and we have become better at what we do we found that we were able to take this on.

“The site is well known locally. It was the Priority Cinema originally and then it was a Grandways supermarket – some of our current staff used to work there. We will be introducing some new product lines and we hope to be open in April.”

The investment will create three full-time jobs and seven part-time positions. Of its 3,000-plus workforce, Heron Foods employs more than 700 in the Hull area across its stores and distribution centre.

Paul White, Agency Director of Hull-based Garness Jones Chartered Surveyors, said: “This is a significant move for Heron Foods and for Hull, with the company opening their biggest store yet in the city where it all began more than 36 years ago.

“Heron Foods has changed the way it operates in recent years with bigger, brighter stores in busy locations including two new outlets in Hull city centre. The new store is next to a roundabout and a main road and surrounded by houses, with another residential development taking shape nearby.

“A gym operator moved into the first floor of the former cinema in 2014 and is doing very well. Heron’s investment completes the renovation of the building and provide a high quality store which will meet the needs of a wide community.”

Joe Griffin, Director of Landmark Riverside Limited, who own the property, said: “The building was a derelict site when we bought it in 2008. It then housed a mini indoor market and we then used it to sell carpets and furniture.

“It’s in a good location, surrounded by chimney pots. It will serve a wide area and also increase footfall for the gym upstairs.”