Sailmakers revival begins with ‘sweet’ announcement for Ipswich

A thriving new doughnut chain is to provide the initial ingredient for a full-scale revival of Ipswich’s Sailmakers Shopping Centre.

Harry’s Handcrafted Doughnuts is moving into one of the newly refurbished vacant retail units in the Suffolk town’s main covered shopping mall.

The announcement marks the arrival of the first new tenant since Sailmakers was purchased by Nottingham property firm ALB Group earlier this summer. The centre is already home to numerous high street brands including Boots, HMV, River Island and Poundland, but a number of units have become empty.

The doughnut store, due to open in the autumn, is the third Harry’s Handcrafted Doughnuts outlet to open in the UK following successful launches in Darlington and Newcastle earlier this year. Other stores in Gosforth and Middlesbrough are due to open in the coming weeks.

The new owner of Sailmakers, which links Tower Ramparts Bus Station and Tavern Street, is hoping its promise of lower, more flexible lease agreements will now help to attract more businesses like Harry’s to the shopping centre.  In addition to leasing the former “Military Unit Tactical Store” in Sailmakers, the owners of Harry’s Handcrafted Doughnuts are also leasing the centre’s old staff canteen to use as a kitchen for crafting their mouth-watering creations onsite.

Harry’s Handcrafted Doughnuts was originally launched during lockdown, as an online delivery business only, by business partners Jack Beadle and Richard Bridge.

The pair also run an urban axe-throwing business called Hatchet Harry’s, but they were forced to ‘cook up’ a new business venture when the axe-throwing centres were temporarily closed due to Covid restrictions.

Jack said: “When we heard about ALB’s acquisition of Sailmakers Shopping Centre, we immediately looked at what units were available, as we have been looking for suitable premises in Ipswich for a while. “The fact that we had the excellent opportunity to take on an additional kitchen area close by really helped to seal the deal. We can’t wait to bring our tasty treats to the people of Suffolk.”

The new Ipswich store, which will also serve coffee made with beans sourced from leading brand 200 Degrees Coffee, will provide customer seating.

Harry’s Handcrafted Doughnuts’ prides itself on selling products with more of a home-made quality than competing doughnut brands. It is continually coming up with imaginative new flavours and toppings, though the lemon meringue flavoured doughnut remains its top seller.

Jack and Richard have also leased units from ALB in Nottingham and Derby for two of their Hatchet Harry’s venues, which is where they learned of ALB’s mission to revive the nation’s high streets by providing far more accessible contracts to prospective tenants.

Arran Bailey, managing director of ALB Group, said: “The nation’s high streets need all the help they can get right now.

“We’re delighted that Harry’s Handcrafted Doughnuts is the first of what we hope is many more great businesses to help get the ball rolling in Ipswich.”

Oliver Marshall, of commercial property agent FHP, which is marketing the available units at Sailmakers, said he expected the doughnut business to signal the beginning of an exciting new future for the shopping mall and Ipswich town centre in general. He added: “Any potential new retailers, whether they are small independents or larger regional or national chains, will be very pleasantly surprised at how accessible the lease arrangements have become at Sailmakers.”