We were contacted before Christmas 2020 and asked to assist with a project at 40 Market Street, Ashby de la Zouch – a vacant site formerly home to Clinton’s Cards. We held initial consultations with our client, Mark Mcintosh, in early 2021 and established a brief for the project.
The site included a substantial retail ground floor area with living accommodation above. The first-floor accommodation was of secondary interest and has remained pretty much untouched other than some minor repairs. The ground floor of the building had been empty for some months. The previous owner had removed all the shopfitting items, leaving the space as an empty shell.
During the meeting in January, Mark explained the requirements for the unit and the model he was looking to achieve. It is well known that there are several coffee shops in the area. Still, Mark wanted to create something different to showcase his patisserie skills. He was looking to establish a niche for specialist food to eat in or take away, but also, very significantly, to demonstrate patisserie skills to those interested in watching.
The whole focus of the layout was to incorporate an open kitchen area and a substantial display area for this purpose and to include tables and fixed seating to create a relaxed atmosphere. Interior design played a considerable role in securing this.
We established a programme for the building work. Mark had already booked a builder to start in February, so approval needed to be sought quickly.
Working with local building control, the details of the scheme were agreed upon in time for the contractor to begin. Building work began with some essential repairs, structural upgrading work, and the fit-out work started in March.
In general terms, there was little to do with the fabric of the building. However, we took the opportunity to make some thermal upgrade improvements and add provisions for new family-friendly sanitation.
The key to achieving deadlines was the supply of the catering kitchen, which was sourced from a specialist company. Once that was in place, the contractor could complete the final interior fit-out.
Building control signed off the works in May. The Mmacaron was officially opened by the Mayor of Ashby, Councilor Graham Allman, at the end of May.
Mmacaron is at 40 Market Street, Ashby de la Zouch. Opening hours are 8.30 am until 5 pm, Monday to Saturday.
