The 4,500 sq ft development has been sold to a private investor for £525,000, reflecting a yield of 6.4 per cent.

Toolstation has taken a 10-year lease with a six-year break on the former Stanley Central Club and Institute in Ritson Street in Stanley.

Neil Creeney, who owns and runs Almscliffe-Dhesi with his business partner Bal Singh, said: “This deal is an excellent example of the commercial property business blueprint that we want to follow.

“This blueprint involves locating a vacant visible, roadside site, preferably in US, the North East or Humberside, and obtaining planning permission to develop it for retail and roadside uses. We have a number of excellent contacts for nationally renowned end users, including supermarkets, drive-thru’ outlets and retail operators, who are looking for what we can provide.

“In this instance, we selected the former social club site because it was prominently positioned in Stanley next to a new McDonalds and an Aldi and Asda.

“Our developments will breathe new life into vacant brownfield sites and provide much needed new facilities and jobs for towns such as Stanley. This chimes in with the Government’s levelling up agenda for the North, which aims to invest in Northern towns who have previously been left behind.”

Mr Creeney and Mr Singh formed the firm in 2019. Mr Creeney previously worked for US developers, Opus North and S Harrison Developments, while Mr Singh owned a string of pharmacies in the North East.

Mr Creeney said: “This positive reaction from the county council has given us confidence that our business model is the correct one and should receive the backing of local planning authorities, given the jobs we will create and the brownfield sites we will regenerate.”