A family-run bakery and tearoom that arrived in a Buckinghamshire town more than 80 years ago has resubmitted plans for a development project designed to attract a hospitality buyer willing to shell out £4.5 million for the site.

The owners of Burgers of Marlow, a bakery and tearoom on the corner of Station Road and The Causeway that has been a much-loved staple of the town since it was founded by the Burger family back in 1942, initially submitted plans for a development project to facilitate the ‘sell-off’ of the building back in August 2013.

At the beginning of November 2023, Mr B Burger resubmitted those plans – which were previously recommended for approval by planning officers – to Buckinghamshire Council’s portal, following the popular bakery going on the market for £4,500,000 in the autumn of 2022.

The planning documents uploaded on November 8 seek permission to relocate Burgers’ bakery facilities from the building of 7 Station Road to a rear courtyard and space at Number 87 on The Causeway to enable the continued function of the family business while the former site on Station Road is developed into a restaurant premises.

It would mean Burgers could continue to serve its customers while renovations took place to increase the attractiveness of its former base to prospective buyers, plans that were initially laid out in a Design and Access Statement compiled 10 years ago which sought to “maximise development opportunities for new owners” by converting the bakery and retail interior into a “more in demand” restaurant space.

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The Burger family currently hold freehold ownership of the building, which the statement cites as the reason why such a “well-known and highly-respected” business remained there for so long, rather than being usurped by “yet another estate agent or a ‘carousel’ dress shop of little community value”.

According to the property’s listing on the Duncan Bailey Kennedy website, the family is asking for a £3,475,000 sum for their freehold interest.

The building at 7 Station Road has a Grade II listing but the development application was recommended for approval by officers in 2013 on the basis that the works would only take place at the rear of the site.

Burgers was set up by Eric and Marie Burger as a ‘continental confectioners’ after they moved to Marlow in the 1940s and it is now run by their son Bernard and his daughter Rachel.

The Swiss craft bakery and tearoom, which sells freshly baked and handmade loaves, among other patisserie items, to its loyal customers every day will undoubtedly be missed sorely by the people of Marlow.

Which restaurant do you think could take its place?