After standing empty for the last two years one of High Barnet's iconic High Street buildings has a new owner who has plans to convert the premises into a Costa coffeehouse.
A failed attempt was made last year to convert what was formerly a branch of the Trustee Savings Bank into an adult gaming centre, but that was rejected by Barnet Council after widespread opposition.
Originally the offices of the former Barnet Press weekly newspaper, 118 High Street has now been purchased on behalf of p2mcoffee, which is a franchise operator of Costa coffeehouses with 12 outlets in north and south London.
The new owners say their intention is to enhance and safeguard what is a listed building: the external shopfront and original portico would be cleaned and repainted and the clock on the front wall would be repaired and put back into working order.
Much to the disappointment of shoppers, the clock has been out of order since the departure of TSB who did previously restore it to working order to the delight of the town.
If Barnet Council approves the proposed internal alterations and the installation of a new fascia sign, p2mcoffee hope to open the new coffeehouse in two to three months’ time.
This would result in the closure of two other High Barnet franchise coffeehouses operated by p2mcoffee, the Costa coffeehouse in The Spires shopping centre and the High Street Costa coffeehouse opposite Barnet parish church.
Ishrat Malik, director of p2m coffee, told the Barnet Society that his intention was to restore and enhance what he accepted was a landmark building in the High Street.
“We hope to decorate the interior of the new coffeehouse with illustrations that tell the history of the building back to the days it was the home of the Barnet Press newspaper.
“Perhaps we can reproduce some of the newspaper front pages and also tell some of the history of the locality.”
Just across the High Street from 118 is what was the Victoria Bakery and the famous doorstep where Charles Dickens was said to have envisaged Oliver Twist meeting the Artful Dodger.
Further along the High Street is the Red Lion public house where Samuel Pepys was said to have stopped for lunch after drinking water at Barnet’s famous physic well.
118 High Street started out in 1805 as the premises of a printer, bookseller and stationer owned by John James Cowing, who established what was known as Cowing’s Library.
His son George Wetton Cowing installed a second-hand printing press – costing £130 – and launched the Barnet Press in 1859 which grew steadily in circulation and became a widely admired local newspapers.
By the 1980s, after years of expansion, Barnet had four local newspapers but by the mid-1990s digital advertising started to take off, draining revenue and a decade later online promotion dominated the market.
One by one local newspapers shrank. The Barnet Press was sold off by the Cowing Trustees but live on until final closure in August 2017.
