Place North West | Barclays indicators at £8.6m Cumbria enterprise hub
May 13, 2021, 12:05 p.m.
Neil day
The banking giant will open its 24th Eagle Labs incubator, the first in Cumbria, at the redeveloped Whitehaven bus station on May 25th.
Sellafield has provided £ 5.7 million to refurbish the historic bus station, which was vacated in 2002. The development was driven by the British Energy Coast.
BEC designed a project with seven offices, 30 common rooms and five meeting rooms in the 1930s Bransty Row building. The entire first floor of the former train station and the associated offices are 7,700 m².
A 125-seat restaurant called The Peddler, for which the Osprey Management Group was granted a license in January, will also be located on the ground floor.
The development is also supported by Copeland Council, with Sellafield supporting the program through the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. It is part of the first £ 55million phase of the ambitious North Shore vision for Whitehaven over £ 200million.
Local contractor Thomas Armstrong, consultancy Summers Inman and architect NORR were involved in the project.
The Eagle Lab will take up part of the renovated building and offer start-ups and entrepreneurs a mix of cooperation, office and meeting rooms as well as a makerspace for rapid prototyping with devices such as laser cutters and 3D printers and electronics stations.
Barclays will also assist entrepreneurs with access to banking services, mentoring and events.
Michael Pemberton, General Manager of BEC, said, “We pride ourselves on bringing new life and new goals to neglected places.
“This is not just another office. The bus station is a hybrid workplace that combines work, creativity, learning, eating and drinking in an inspiring and collaborative space. We are very excited to be working with Sellafield and Barclays to help startups and entrepreneurs innovate, invent and succeed. “
Martin Chown, CEO of Sellafield added: “We are proud to have invested £ 5.7 million in the development of the bus station. This is an incredibly exciting development that represents years of work and shows a tremendous vote of confidence in West Cumbria. “
Jon Hope, Director of Barclays Eagle Labs, said, “We will bring our Eagle Labs philosophy to Whitehaven to house startups and scale-ups and to nurture the connections so they can grow.”
BEC is owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Copeland and Allerdale Town Councils, and Cumbria County Council, and works with other partners, including the Cumbria LEP.
