PROJECT / BOURNEMOUTH TOWN CENTRE
Empty shell to trading restaurant, on programme.
Appointed as design-and-build contractor to turn a raw shell on a prominent corner into a fully operational Chicking — one of the UK’s fastest-growing halal fried chicken brands. Every stage handled: planning, licensing, technical design and branded fit-out. Opened as planned.
- Location
- Bournemouth
- Sector
- F&B / Hospitality
- Licences
- 2 granted
- Delivery
- On programme
Turnkey: from bare walls to a trading date.
The client brief was clear and ambitious — take an empty shell unit and deliver a restaurant ready to trade, complete with every approval, consent and operating licence:
- Planning permission for restaurant and takeaway use in a town-centre location
- A late-night refreshment licence for trading beyond 23:00 — critical to the business model
- A full commercial kitchen extraction and ventilation system
- A complete branded interior fit-out to Chicking’s corporate design manual
- Delivery on a tight programme aligned to the planned trading date
A town-centre extraction problem that could have sunk the programme.
The most technically demanding element was the kitchen extraction: a town-centre building with limited roof access and neighbouring occupiers to protect. Our engineers produced a bespoke solution meeting planning conditions, Building Regulations Part F and environmental health requirements for odour control — resolving the classic planning stumbling block early, before it could cost weeks.
Planning and licensing, concurrently. We prepared the change-of-use application — addressing officer concerns on extraction discharge, shopfront design and streetscene — while coordinating the premises licence application in parallel. Running both processes at once, rather than one after the other, was central to holding the programme.
Brand-standard design. A full technical drawing set — layout, ceiling and lighting, joinery, finishes — developed with the Chicking brand team to their corporate manual.
Phased construction. Extraction and mechanical works ran concurrently with first fix, minimising float; all trades directly supervised by our site management, with regular client reporting.
- Full planning consent — restaurant use, signage, fascia
- Late-night refreshment licence — trading beyond 23:00
- Bespoke commercial kitchen extraction, designed & installed
- Complete branded fit-out, shell to trading
- Building Regulations Part B, F & J sign-off
- End-to-end programme & contractor management
Delivered on programme and to budget, opening to the public as planned with every consent in place before handover. The completed fit-out now serves as a reference project for the brand’s ongoing UK expansion.
One team, one contract, one programme — the risk and coordination burden lifted off the operator.