Beeches of Walkley: Landlord reveals plans for building after well known Sheffield shop closes again

The landlord who owns the site of a longstanding Sheffield farm shop and deli has outlined plans for the building, after its second closure in a year.

The Popular Beeches of Walkley shop, on South Road, Walkley, has been closed since November 2023, having previously shut in January the same year.

It had been running for years as a farm shop and deli until its closure.

Now Paul Singh who owns the building, which has in more recent years also been home to Walkley's Post Office counter, has explained what he wants to do with the building.

Landlord Mr Singh said the previous tenant, who had tried to keep the business running as Beeches of Walkley, had left, with the shop shutting down late last year.

He is now looking for new tenants, and says although there is interest in running some of the activities which Beeches had carried out, he planned now to split the building into two separate businesses.

He said: "My plan at the minute is to split it into two, and run it as two separate units. I have interest from local businesses, and one of those wants to bring some of the fundamentals of Beeches, but not on the same scale.

"We are in discussions with three or four others as well, although no one wants to take the entire thing."

"One of the people I'm talking to wants to bring the deli back, and also wants to have discussions with the Post Office, but I think first they want to get everything up and running and secure the lease, and once that's in place move forward and talk to the Post Office. Because they're local, they know what the local people are missing.

"At the moment I'm 99 per cent sure that there are going to be two shops.

"The one thing I don't want for it is a fast food take away. There are already enough in the area, and I don't want smells and noise disturbing the locals."

Beeches, which had been a feature on the main Walkley shopping street since 2009, originally closed early in 2023, when Chris Beech decided to shut and concentrate on a smaller butchers shop he runs in Ranmoor.

The Walkley store, traditionally a farm shop with a deli, had also been home to a Post Office counter for some time.

At the time of its original closure, Chris mentioned a number of reasons for the closure, including health issues and rising overheads, but he also said Sheffield City Council’s controversial ‘active travel zone’ in Crookes and Walkley, which involved roads being blocked off to create a safer, cleaner and quieter environment for residents and local businesses, had played a huge part.

Many of the changes the council made under the scheme were later dropped following consultation.

Then in April 2023, it was re-opened under the same name by new bosses Sirfraz Hassan and Dula Bibi, after the couple took over just a few days before the date it was feared that it could close.

However, late last year, the shop closed again.