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Although the stalls looked good and attracted much interest it soon became apparent that they were not commercially viable even at peppercorn rents and so it was decided to demolish them in favour of more retail space. This allowed Charles Butler, one of the original tenants, to organically grow his successful cookshop business. The second phase of development was again fully let from the outset on long leases.
In 2004 Rhu and Philippa had the opportunity to purchase a 1970's house and garden adjacent to the Appleyard development. Once again they had the benefit of pre-lets to excellent tenants including Fat Face, The Holt Bookshop and Appleyard Gallery. A further extension was added to Charles Butler's Cookshop with the addition of a new restaurant for his son-in-law Sean Creasey, making a feature of 'The Secret Garden', with its magnificent Copper Beech tree, now a haven for al fresco dining in the heart of Holt.