Anyone who has walked along Broadway recently will know the Sir Henry Royce has looked rather sorry for itself.

The city-centre pub closed in February after Craft Union Pub Company decided not to renew the lease.

Since then, the building has been sitting empty not exactly helping the argument that Peterborough needs more reasons to stay in town after the shops close.

But there may finally be some movement.

An application has been lodged with Peterborough City Council to transfer the pub’s licence to Amber Taverns Ltd, a company that says it operates around 175 pubs across the UK.

That doesn’t mean the Sir Henry Royce is definitely reopening next week.

But it is the first proper sign in a while that somebody may have plans for it.

And this particular pub comes with a bit of history.

The building became the Sir Henry Royce in 2015, but plenty of Peterborough residents will still remember it as Yates’s.

When the Sir Henry Royce closed earlier this year, operator Michelle Young tried to raise enough money to bring the pub into family ownership.

The deadline proved too tight and the campaign fell short.

The pub has been empty since.

Now Amber Taverns appears interested.

According to its own description, the company concentrates on community pubs in busy towns and city centres, with drinks, live sport and familiar beer brands at the heart of the offer.

Its closest current pubs to Peterborough are in Kettering and Wellingborough.

That makes the Peterborough application interesting for more than people who simply fancy a pint.

Broadway needs occupied buildings.

Peterborough city centre needs places that are still doing something after five o’clock.

And an empty pub with the lights off contributes precisely nothing to either.

A reopened Sir Henry Royce could give people somewhere to meet before a show, watch sport, have a drink after work or carry on an evening rather than immediately heading home.

But reopening the doors is only half the job.

Peterborough residents still have to want to go there.

Would it feel like a proper local?

Would the prices work?

Would there be entertainment?

Sport?

Food?

Live music?

Would it appeal to people who remember Yates’s, or would it need to find a completely different crowd?

Those details matter far more than the name above the door.

And there is another reason this story feels bigger than one pub.

Peterborough keeps asking what would bring the city centre back to life.

More independents?

Better markets?

Events?

Easier parking?

Places to eat and drink?

Well, here is a very simple test sitting on Broadway.

Can an empty building become somewhere people actively choose to spend their evening again?

The licence application suggests the Sir Henry Royce might get that chance.

Now we need to see whether it actually happens.

And if it does, Peterborough will decide fairly quickly whether it has been missed.

Do you want the Sir Henry Royce back and what would make you actually use it?