Newcastle City Council Leader praises successful Toffee factory redevelopment
May 24, 2012
Civic leaders and representatives from the city’s creative industries were amongst those celebrating the success of the Toffee Factory, the latest creative and digital hub located in Newcastle’s Ouseburn Valley, at a launch event at the former sweet factory on Friday 25 May.
Cllr Nick Forbes, Leader of Newcastle City Council and Alan Clarke, Chief Executive, One North East attended the event along with Paul Fallon and Toby Hyam from multi-award winning company Creative Space Management, who manage the building.
The Toffee Factory is owned by Newcastle City Council and cost £6 million to redevelop through funding from the city council, Regional Development Agency One North East through ERDF Single Programme, and the European Union’s ERDF Competitiveness Programme 2007-13.
The former sweet factory has already been awarded Project of the Year, Regeneration and highly commended in Design and Innovation and Commercial categories in the North East RICS Renaissance Awards in April 2012 and will go on to compete in the RICS National Awards. It has also been shortlisted for the RIBA North Awards.
Cllr Nick Forbes, Leader of Newcastle City Council said: “Newcastle already boasts a thriving creative sector and I am delighted that since its opening the Toffee Factory has already supported a number of new businesses which are helping boost the city economy. I am looking forward to meeting some of the tenants who are playing a key role in shaping the creative heartland of our city and I’m sure the building will continue to inspire this and future generations. This building was built by the city council almost 150 years ago and I am delighted we are once again playing a role in its latest chapter.”
Alan Clarke, Chief Executive, One North East added: “The Toffee Factory provides a fantastic space which will continue the economic growth of the Ouseburn area of Newcastle. This exciting development has brought together a host of businesses together as a single creative community in Newcastle.”
Toby Hyam, Creative Space Management, who manage the Toffee Factory said: “Creative Space has been working closely with Newcastle City Council and all the project stakeholders for over three years and the success of Toffee Factory is an excellent demonstration of how the private sector can work in partnership to achieve economic growth. Toffee Factory is a community of talented and creative businesses and demonstrates how flexible and talented entrepreneurs are continuing to find success despite the challenging economic conditions.”
“Thanks to all the staff for helpfulness, we knew we could be confident about all the arrangements and a warm welcome for our guests.”
Ouseburn Trust
