Land and Buildings

Cultural Heartland Incubation Centre

"Providing workspace in the heart of Leicester for creative industries"

The project aims to stimulate a cluster of creative industries in the St George's area of Leicester and provide space for companies from setting-up to becoming established.

Organisation: Leicester City Council

Completion Date: 31/03/2004

Location

Rutland Street, Leicester

Project Description

Quotation (max. 50 words).
Author

Background
The project comprised the complete refurbishment of a redundant 1960s office building at 31 Rutland Street, Leicester to create a managed workspace environment for small businesses operating in the creative sector. Part of the project included a new building front Colton Street. The builsing is owned by Leicester City Council and has been vacant since the departure of Leicester Citybus in 1990.

Stimulating creative industries
The project is a key element of the Creative Industries and Cultural Quarter scheme for the St George's area of Leicester. It aims to stimulate a cluster of creative industries and provide space for companies from setting-up to becoming established.

In particular it will create employment in this sector, provide a focus for the growth of 'start-up' companies, help to retain graduates in the sub-region and strengthen links between local businesses, training providers and the tertiary education sector.

The completed project will be targeted at companies in the creative sector with the assistance of agencies such as Business Link.

Outcomes

• 3,720m2 of incubation workspace divided into 66 separate units.
• Shared facilities, e.g. meeting rooms, canteen and administrative support.

Project Contacts

Project manager:
Mike Candler
Tel: 0116 252 6785
E-mail: candm001@leicester.gov.uk
Website: www.leicester.gov.uk

LSEP contact:
Andy Rose
Tel: 0116 257 5677
Email: andyr@lsep.co.uk
Website: www.lsep.co.uk