Exclusive: Black Sheep Coffee trying to offload empty Caffe Nero – as Union Street unit lies empty for almost two years

Black Sheep Coffee bosses are looking at ways to offload the Union Street unit that still lies empty almost two years after they took on the lease.

The London-based chain – which also runs an outlet at Union Square – signed the papers for the former Caffe Nero in May 2023.

But their plans to expand their Aberdeen offering with a second branch have been in limbo ever since and the prominent building remains empty.

Last summer, their landlord, Raymond Kohli, told The P&J that the coffee makers were quick to snap up the unit after he gave them “several incentives” to lure them in.

They took on the lease within two weeks of Caffe Nero leaving the property, and planning permission for new signage was swiftly approved.

But nothing has happened, and speculation has been mounting about the future of the building.

Now, after 16 months of silence on the matter, Black Sheep Coffee have revealed they are actively looking for someone else to take it off their hands.

Why is the former Caffe Nero branch still empty?

The property on 73-79 Union Street has been put back on the market, with interested parties able to rent the unit from Black Sheep Coffee for £85,000 per annum.

Company officials say this is one of the options they are exploring at the moment in a bid to pass the property to a third party – although they are not officially letting go of it.

It is understood they recently tried to give the stripped out unit back to the landlord, saying they don’t have the cash to fit it out due to their rapid expansion across the UK.

But this is not the first time they have snapped up a Caffe Nero unit and then left it lying empty for months.

Black Sheep Coffee have previously been accused of trying to get the upper hand over their established competitors by forcing them out of their premises.

Several of their UK branches are at former properties of their rival, and there are the occasional announcements of new venues with the comment: “RIP Caffe Nero”.

However, several of their new locations remain untouched – including a former Caffe Nero branch in Basingstoke shopping centre that they took on in April 2023.

Their plans for an empty Chichester shop have also recently fallen through, almost two years after signing the lease for it.

What do you think will happen with the former Caffe Nero unit? Let us know in our comments section below.

So what do Black Sheep coffee plan to do with the Union Street unit now?

A spokeswoman for coffee chain says they are currently trying to find a franchisee to take on the high street property and bring it back to its former splendour.

In other words, the property could still end up as a Black Sheep Coffee branch but it will be run by a different party.

The other avenue they would be looking to take – if this doesn’t work out – will be to try and sublet the unit to another company.

However, this would have to be a firm similar to Black Sheep Coffee if they are to avoid the palaver of sorting out the necessary planning permissions for a different use.

The Black Sheep Coffee official added: “Unfortunately, the franchisee that was meant to build and operate our Aberdeen shop on Union street is no longer able to progress, so we are looking for a replacement.

“We’re giving this a few weeks and then we might opt to just open the site ourselves as corporate.”

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