Take a look inside Peterborough's closed Wilko store as new owner begins revamp of Hereward Cross

Work is underway to transform Peterborough’s Hereward Cross Shopping Centre with the focus on finding new retailers for the sprawling former Wilko store.

HCP Investments, the new owners of the centre in Broadway, are searching for potential tenants, which are likely to include leisure operators, to move into the 22,000 square feet space left empty by Wilko’s collapse last September.

But our video and photos show the scale of the challenge facing the new owners as they look to revamp and reorganise the huge space to suit the needs of any new tenants.

A cursory look at the interior indicates that the former occupier probably left in a hurry.

But what is also immediately apparent is the daunting size of the space and the immense number of supporting columns that stretch under the centre and that will determine the boundaries of any future reorganisation of the space, which includes a further 8,000 square feet on the first floor.

Will Elphinstone, director of property agents Tydus Peterborough, said: “I’d expect we will get about six retailers in here with a leisure operator likely for the front of the building."

He said future tenants would benefit from the custom of residents in the 315 apartments for rent at the nearby Indigo development in Northminster.

Edward Gee, director of Savills, said: "We are already seeing a high level of interest in the unit on a split basis, plus we are speaking to a couple of parties who might want to occupy all of it as a single unit.

"We don’t expect it to be sat empty for too long.”