Ashfield District Council's £2 million business centre renovation in Sutton, Nottinghamshire, is facing challenges with most office units remaining empty a year after completion. Despite the success of Makerspace and Inspire, the council acknowledges the need to attract more businesses to the building. The council spent £2.26 million on the project, funded by the government's future high streets grant, and offered rent relief grants to encourage occupancy.
A Nottinghamshire council admits it has faced "problems" since opening a £2 million business centre with most of the office units remaining empty. Ashfield District Council completed the renovation of former DWP offices in Sutton towards the end of 2023.
The main occupants of the building are Makerspace and Inspire, with the former comprising a workshop that can be used as a co-working space featuring state of the art equipment. Inspire offers courses and traineeships for young people in areas ranging from construction to social care. "We've put a lot of focus into the big part of the building, so the majority of the building has gone to Inspire and to the Makerspace and we've been working heavily on that part. One of the other things is that we had a really good town centre manager who came to retirement, so we had a gap for a month or two before Christmas and we've just got a new town centre manager who is really good.
Again funded by government grants, the council said its rent relief payments would range from £250 to £960 depending on the size of the unit. The council says it has given out such grants to four businesses, but will not say how much rent relief it has given overall, saying this is "commercially sensitive".
BUSINESS CENTRE Empty Units Rent Relief Ashfield District Council Nottinghamshire
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