IT HAS been announced that a Wildwood restaurant will be opening in the Crowngate unit left vacant when House closed suddenly in October.

The Crown Estate has also agreed to purchase the long leasehold interest to 35-40 Friary Walk for £3.29m from asset manager F&C Reit.

The Crown Estate already holds the freehold rights to the 32,000 sq ft building in the city centre which is occupied by New Look.

Wildwood, which offers freshly prepared pastas, pizzas and grills, will take over the former House bar and restaurant in Chapel Walk opposite Bill's and Coffee Dough.

Work is underway to transform the restaurant which is scheduled to open this summer.

Jonny Plant at Wildwood said: “We are pleased to be opening in Worcester’s Crowngate Centre, which has over the last two years established itself as a top destination for high quality dining in the region.

"Our main goal wherever we work is to provide great food, in a relaxed, welcoming environment and we are looking forward to bringing that philosophy to Worcester."

Matthew Baddeley, asset manager at The Crown Estate said: “We know that shoppers want more than just a functional shopping experience, which is why we’ve been working hard in Worcester to develop a high quality catering offer, bringing leading operators like Wildwood to Crowngate.

"Enhancing the retail and leisure mix is a key part of our strategy for the shopping centre, but we’re also thinking about the longer term and purchasing the New Look building will ensure we have the right property ownerships in place to continue to deliver improvement programmes in the future.”