Mason Moore & Vaughan Moore | 15 November 2023

A FORMER Hinckley cafe could have found a new taker, after sitting empty for years.

The news comes after a new “under offer” sign has recently emerged atop the former Coffee Rio eatery on Market Place, directly next door to The Clarence cafe and bar.

The eatery permanently closed its doors for good in November 2020, just three months after new bosses had taken it on from long-established owner Helen Reid.

It has sat empty for some three years now, but things could soon be changing.

That is because a retail space or building being classed as ‘under offer’ means an offer has been accepted on it, but the contracts have not yet been exchanged.

This isn’t the first time in recent years that a new tenant has been discussed to take it on. Last year, the Hinckley Free Press heard whispers of plans to transform it into a delicatessen, though these soon fell through, and never ended up coming to light.

A listing put together by property agents Wards, who are responsible for marketing the unit, states it is “currently arranged as cafe premises, but is suitable for a variety of uses”, and it also benefits from a kitchen, as well as staff and customer toilets.

While a new tenant could be coming to Market Place, some of its surrounding sites are still sitting vacant, including two former eateries – Hinckley Mega Chippy, and Eat Lean – and two former national high street bank branches in Halifax and Barclays.