Quirky, quality modern offices and spaces for small and micro sized businesses feature in Halton Borough Council plans for a new Enterprise Facility at Runcorn Station Quarter.
It is hoped that the new facility – which would be located in the vacant Elite House building, opposite Runcorn Station – will attract higher skilled, higher paid jobs to the town centre.
Halton Borough Council has appointed K2 Architects to develop concept-designs to show how the repurposed building could look.
The Council is also in discussions with Baltic Creative, who it is hoped will become the facility operator with Sci-Tech Daresbury, to create an offer that links the town centre facility with the internationally renowned site.
Baltic Creative is the firm behind successful regeneration of the Baltic Triangle Area in Liverpool – now recognised internationally as an exemplar approach to Creative & Digital Business growth and the regeneration of a place.
The development of the new facility in Runcorn Station Quarter will benefit from Town Deal funding and is one of the seven projects that form the ‘Reconnecting Runcorn’ Runcorn Town Investment plan, which has been allocated £23.6m Town Deal Fund money.
Talking about these latest Town Deal plans, Adrian Fillingham, Chair of the Runcorn Town Investment Board said: “How fantastic would it be if we could replicate the success of the Baltic Triangle, right in the heart of Runcorn!
“I’m really excited by this proposal and the gap it would fill in the current Runcorn Town Centre offer.
“The facility’s excellent strategic location close to the West Coast mainline will offer Liverpool City Region’s creative and digital industry a link with the internationally recognised Sci-Tech Daresbury site and hopefully bring new jobs into the area.
“Our discussions with various stakeholders are really positive and I am hopeful that the delivery of this Reconnecting Runcorn project will be the next step in the continuing transformation of Runcorn Station Quarter”.
The improvements around Runcorn Station Quarter are already making it easier for people to move around the borough, and, it is hoped that the enterprise facility with the enhanced connections to the town centre, alongside the other Reconnecting Runcorn projects, will come together to improve the lives and livelihoods of local people and boost the local economy.