The former Prezzo at 12-14 High Street, Ely, won’t reopen as a restaurant under the plans approved so far.

The site is set for a new shopfront and retail space on the ground floor, with the first floor converted into a three-bedroom flat.

That’s the confirmed part. The more interesting question is what “retail” could mean next.

East Cambridgeshire District Council approved the applications on 25 March 2025.

The scheme covers changes to the rear of the ground floor and the conversion of the space above.

It doesn’t name a new operator, and there’s no verified sign that construction has been completed or that a business has moved in.

So, could another café or restaurant eventually take the space?

Possibly but not automatically.

Under England’s broad Class E planning category, shops, cafés and restaurants can sit within the same general use class.

That means a future food or drink business may be possible in principle, depending on the detailed planning position and the work needed inside the building.

A pub or hot-food takeaway would need a closer look.

Those uses aren’t covered in the same way as a café or restaurant, so separate planning and licensing issues could come into play.

There’s another layer here too.

The building is Grade II listed.

Any further changes to the frontage, the building’s character or the way a new operator fits out the premises could need listed-building approval.

A restaurant also brings its own questions around extraction, deliveries, toilets, opening hours and licensing.

For now, the approved future is a commercial ground-floor unit with a flat above not a confirmed return to food and drink.

But the door hasn’t been shut on that possibility either.

The next thing to watch is simple: does a named business appear, and what use does it apply for?

If the unit becomes a café or restaurant, that would be a fresh planning and licensing story rather than something already agreed in the current scheme.

Do you know what you’d like to see in the former Prezzo space on Ely High Street, or have you spotted signs of work or a new occupier?

Tell us what to follow with so many restaurants and pubs closing  next.