Amici cafe taking over former Post Office in Bury St Edmunds

The Old Post Office in Bury St Edmunds served its last customers in November 2016 before it was redeveloped into flats and ground floor commercial units by West Suffolk Council. 

Independent café Amici is taking over one of the units and is a new venture for Ross Walker, the managing director of the CASA Group. 

"Bury St Edmunds is such a great town for a whole variety of reasons, including its history, heritage, leisure and culture as well as its shops, cafes and restaurants," said Mr Walker. 

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The new café is opening in the St Andrews Street South unit of the development and will specialise in selling locally-sourced East Anglian foods. 

Mr Walker added: "It's about ensuring good quality, locally sourced, seasonal ingredients and foods. 

"Suffolk and East Anglia has so much of that to offer, and the less it has travelled the better both for the taste and for the environment as well."

The old Post Office closed in 2016 (Image: West Suffolk Council)

West Suffolk Council's redevelopment of the former Post Office included the construction of 12 apartments, which will generate close to £4million when sold. 

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The income from the apartments and commercial units will be used towards improvements in the town centre including the protection of the unlisted Victorian Cornhill front and turning the yard area of the Post Office into an additional commercial unit. 

Indy Wijenayaka, cabinet member for growth at West Suffolk, said: “These improvements are in direct response to many of the 8000 public comments that shaped the town centre masterplan in 2017 and are things that would not have been achieved had we left the building to the open market.”

“All of this will only be further enhanced by the arrival of Amici later this year and we look forward to celebrating its opening.”