Plans to turn Penrith’s former Barclays Bank building into an Enterprise Hub which will supercharge the local economy were given an airing on Wednesday.
Members of the town’s Business Improvement District, councillors and traders were invited to tour the building at 2 Market Square and hear more about the ambitious £4 million project to transform it.
Back in May, a £7.09 million Levelling Up grant was approved by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for the Inspiring Eden project.
The Enterprise Hub at Market Square and a Creative and Community Hub at the former town hall are the project’s twin pillars.
Since May, more concrete plans for the hub – both its function and the redevelopment of the building – have taken shape.
Owned by the Bird family, the former bank will be leased by Westmorland and Furness Council and occupied by an anchor tenant and other business tenants.
It will provide facilities to meet the needs of a range of businesses, from simple hot desking to meeting rooms, and be a focal point for expertise and knowledge to be shared within the area’s business community.
On Wednesday, some of the key players in the project outlined their vision for the way in which the hub could act as a catalyst, driving the town’s commercial life, supporting existing businesses and enabling new start-ups.
Town centre specialist Dr Chris Ford, of Lancaster University, who has pushed for many years for such a development, spoke about the role of innovation hubs nationally as a central point for bringing together people and ideas.
As one of 182 rural hub towns nationally, Penrith was an ideal location for a hub which would cascade benefits far beyond its four walls, bringing new investment and expertise into the area’s commercial sector.
The university would, he said, continue to be involved as the project took shape.
Founder and chief executive of FIS360, the hub’s likely anchor tenant, Dr Frank Allison spoke about Penrith’s strengths, including its location and transport connectivity.
His company, which is already based in Penrith, has a global reach in the innovation sector across a wide range of industries including nuclear and agriculture.
Its work spans a wide range of areas including helping businesses plug into venture capital or grant funding, scaling up, digitisation, supply chain, networking and more.
Frank said the hub would be a place where businesses of all sizes and sectors could find tailored support to meet their needs.
“Whoever walks through that door we know they will require differing levels of support. As a company we will make sure that the support is tailored to their needs,” he said.
Over the coming months those behind the project will engage with the local business community to “validate” the direction that the hub will take.
The Government funding for the project must be spent by March 2027.
Those attending Wednesday’s presentation were then given a tour of the former bank, including the basement vaults, and looked at plans drawn up by Penrith’s YAM Architects for its future layout and design.
