Cornish Bakery Guildford: Shop Signs Approved for November

Cornish Bakery has permission for its shop signs on Guildford High Street. The chain is moving into 84-86 High Street, the shop Russell & Bromley traded from. Guildford Borough Council approved the signs on Monday 28 September (application 26/P/01013).

The bakery has said the Guildford branch will open in November. That date comes from the company’s own announcement in July, not from the council.

What was approved

The application was made in Cornish Bakery’s name on 24 July by its agent, Path Design. A council planning officer approved it under delegated powers, so it did not go to committee. The officer’s report sets out three signs:

• A fascia sign 7.5 metres wide and 0.6 metres tall, about 3.2 metres above the pavement, with white lettering on a dark bronze background
• A hanging sign 0.7 metres wide, in a dark bronze metal box on a black bracket, sticking out 0.7 metres from the front of the building
• “Cornish Bakery” in black acrylic letters fixed to the glass of the door

None of the signs will be lit.

The building needed a careful hand. It is a three-storey brick building in the Guildford Town Centre Conservation Area, and it is on the council’s local list of buildings of heritage value. Its neighbour at 80-82 High Street is grade II listed.

The council’s conservation officer asked for more detail on the finish of the fascia sign. The bakery supplied it on 18 September and the officer raised no objection. Surrey County Council, as highway authority, had no concerns. Nobody else commented on the application.

The shop it replaces

84 High Street was Russell & Bromley’s Guildford branch. The shoe retailer applied for a new shopfront there in 2013, and in the same year for a gold and black fibreglass boot to hang over the entrance (application 13/P/00502).

The bakery’s plans

Cornish Bakery lists 69 bakeries on its own locations page, from Cornwall to Cumbria. Guildford is not on it yet. The nearest branches today are in Chichester and Winchester, and there are others in Lewes, Canterbury and at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth.

In July it named Guildford as one of four new sites, with Wells, Witney and Shrewsbury. It gave the Guildford opening as November (British Baker, carrying the company’s announcement).

Mat Finch, the company’s managing director, said the four towns each had “its own distinct character, thriving high street and strong sense of community”.

The company has not yet published an exact opening day. We will add it when it does.

What it means for you

• A vacant High Street unit is being filled. A bakery cafe in a former shop does not normally need planning permission for a change of use, and the council’s register shows no such application for the address. The signs were the one consent it needed from the council’s planners.
• November is the company’s target, not a fixed date. Fit-outs slip. If you are planning around it, check the bakery’s own channels nearer the time.
• You can see every document yourself, including the drawings of the new shopfront, on the council’s planning portal. Our guide to Guildford planning applications explains how to search it.