A new Indian café restaurant will be joined by a hairdressers, art gallery and two shops at a South Derbyshire marina's £3 million Piazza development.

The Indian tapas bar – a concept which has proved popular in London and Edinburgh – will launch inside the ground floor of Mercia Marina’s new development at the Willington site, in Findern Lane.

The four-storey building is currently being built on the peninsula next to the marina’s Boardwalk shopping, leisure and office complex.

It can also now be revealed that The Piazza will also be home to a hairdressers, art gallery and two additional new shops and are set to open early next year. Talks to find a tenant for a sixth unit at the development are ongoing.

General manager Robert Neff said it was an exciting time for the marina, which is home to around 500 boat residents and pulls in 800,000 visitors a year.

General manager of Mercia Marina Robert Neff

Announcing plans for the new Indian café and restaurant, he told the Burton Mail's sister paper the Derby Telegraph: "The concept will be small plates, or tapas. Currently, the Indian food you tend to have in most traditional Indian restaurants is almost exclusively evening food, and it's quite heavy.

"This one will be day-into-evening and lots of small dishes, rather than single dishes. It's a concept that's been very popular in London and Edinbrugh. It's extremely popular and has really taken off.

"What it mirrors is typical eating by Indian people. They don't just eat at night, they eat in the day as well. They'll have a wide variety of dishes, and so we're trying to do that. It will break the mould, a little bit, on the typical Indian dining in the UK."

Mr Neff said other tenants now secured for The Piazza development were Bluebird Gallery, William Wheelwright Hairdressing and interior decorating retailer Black By Design.

Derby entrepreneur Steve Robinson – owner of the women's designer clothing chain Blue Water, which has outlets at Mercia Marina, Barton Marina, Sadler Gate in Derby and Belper – has also agreed a deal to open another clothing shop in The Piazza.

The Piazza is currently under construction

Earlier this year, it was announced Bionical, a pharmaceutical firm which first took space at the marina in 2014, will expand into the upper two floors of The Piazza.

The firm – which was crowned Company of the Year at this year’s Derby Telegraph Business Awards – said the expansion will bring 100 jobs to the area.

Mr Neff said The Piazza will open early next year. He said: "The builders tell us it will be completed roughly on time in December. They’ll then hand it over to us and we’ll then hand it over to the tenants to do their fit-outs.

"The restaurant will take around six weeks to fit out and the gallery a few weeks. So really we’re talking about opening at the end of January."

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