A KFC franchisee has applied for illuminated signs at 142-144 Lewisham High Street, the empty unit in the Art Deco former Woolworths. The council validated it on 22 September.

A KFC is lined up for 142-144 Lewisham High Street, part of the Art Deco building put up for Woolworths in 1937. The franchisee’s agent lodged an application for advertisement consent on 10 September, and the council validated it on 22 September (application DC/26/145344).

The application was made by Walsingham Planning for FPG Foods Retail Limited. It asks for:

  • one internally illuminated projecting sign carrying the Colonel logo box
  • two red LED strip lights around the existing windows
  • one internally illuminated bucket logo box
  • a “KFC Kinetic” illuminated fascia sign
  • a set of white internally illuminated KFC lettering

The unit is empty and carries no advertisements at present, according to the agent’s planning statement. It was last used under a temporary consent granted on 26 January 2022 for a “creative hub with ancillary office space” for 18 months. That permission has expired and the lawful use has returned to Class E, the general commercial class.

Earlier consents on the record include a new shopfront, roller shutter and illuminated signs in December 2014 and illuminated signs in September 2006. The agent says the property “forms part of Lewisham Shopping Centre” and backs onto it.

The building

The council’s statement of significance for the Lewisham Town Centre Area of Special Local Character lists 142-148 Lewisham High Street among its “other buildings of townscape interest”. It describes a “former Woolworths building, built in 1937 in a grand Art Deco style, replacing the earlier Woolworth shops located on the same site since 1913” (Lewisham Town Centre ASLC statement of significance, PDF).

The building is set back from the building line and still visible, the document says. The Woolworths lettering at the top has gone, and “the historic shopfront has been replaced by modern signage and divided into several units”.

The same document records what happened outside it on Friday 28 July 1944. A V1 flying bomb exploded in front of the clock tower at 9.41am, in the middle of market day. Casualties occurred “in the basement cafe of Woolworths and even on passing buses”. The final death toll released that September was 51, with 216 injured, and archive records show at least 52 victims. Marks and Spencer at 122-126, along the same side of the street, was demolished by the blast and rebuilt after the war.

Timeline for 142-148 Lewisham High Street, the former Woolworths: 1913, the first Woolworth shops on the site; 1937, the Art Deco building opens; 28 July 1944, a V1 flying bomb falls on Lewisham Market at 9.41am with casualties in the Woolworths basement cafe and 51 dead; 21 September 2006, illuminated signs consented; 1 December 2014, new shopfront, roller shutter and signs consented; 26 January 2022, temporary 18-month consent for a creative hub; 10 September 2026, KFC signage application submitted, validated 22 September
A century on one site. Graphic by Lewisham News
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The building is not listed and is not in a conservation area. The agent’s statement places it inside the Lewisham Major Centre and the Primary Shopping Area. It is also within the Lewisham and Catford archaeological priority area and the Lewisham Shopping Centre site allocation in the 2025 Local Plan.

Who is applying

FPG Foods Retail Limited was incorporated on 18 May 2024 and is registered in Stanmore (Companies House). FPG Foods describes itself as a KFC franchisee in South Africa that has expanded into the UK (FPG Foods).

The planning register also records a KFC at 217 Lewisham High Street, named as the frontage in a BT Street Hub application in 2022 (DC/22/128104).

What happens next

This is an application for signs only. It does not propose works to the upper floors, and it is not an application to change the use of the unit. Advertisement consent is decided on two tests, amenity and public safety, under the Control of Advertisements Regulations 2007, so the council cannot weigh whether it wants a fried chicken shop there.

The case officer is Anna Redmond and the ward is Lewisham Central. No comments had been logged when we checked on 25 September. The bucket logo and the lettering are specified at 250 candelas per square metre, the brightness figure the council will assess.

What it means for you

  • An empty unit on the market side of the High Street is getting a tenant. The creative hub consent expired after its 18 months, and the agent says the unit is out of use with no signage displayed.
  • The Art Deco frontage is not the subject of this application. The 1937 building’s future sits with the Lewisham Shopping Centre scheme, whose site allocation includes this address. Anyone concerned about the upper floors should watch that scheme, not this one.
  • Comments go on the register. Search for DC/26/145344 on the council’s planning site. Our Lewisham planning applications page explains how to comment and what counts.
  • Parking for the High Street is covered on our parking in Lewisham page.

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