- Mayor, councillors and guests attend official ribbon cutting ceremony
- Elizabeth Bradford Business Centre has 14 offices for rent
- Businesses invited to enquire now for more information or a visit
The ribbon has officially been cut at the Elizabeth Bradford Business Centre, offering serviced office space in a restored historic building in the heart of Tamworth.
Mayor of Tamworth, Gareth Coates, performed the ceremonial honours this week as councillors and invited guests gathered for a first look inside the new facility.
Formerly home to Tamworth Co-operative Society for more than 120 years, the 19th century buildings in Colehill have been given a new lease of life with 14 offices set over three floors, alongside meeting rooms, kitchens, lift access, hot desking area and all the features modern businesses require.
A key focus of the project was protecting and restoring the building’s original features, such as stained glass windows, wooden beams and arches, parquet flooring, exposed brickwork, cornicing, old safes, and a showstopping decorative staircase.
In further keeping with that history, the building has been named after Tamworth Co-operative Society’s first ever employee, Elizabeth Bradford. You can read more about the history on our news pages.
Following on from the success of the council’s first enterprise centre in Corporation Street, Elizabeth Bradford Business Centre was created to provide more office space for the town’s thriving community of businesses on their next stage of growth.
It has been officially handed over from the developers and finishing touches will now be applied before it welcomes its first new tenants in the coming weeks and months.
Any businesses interested in taking offices in the Elizabeth Bradford Centre, or Tamworth Enterprise Centre, are invited to get in touch via tec@tamworth.gov.uk to find out more or arrange a visit.
Councillor Carol Dean, Leader of Tamworth Borough Council, said: “Opening the Elizabeth Bradford Business Centre is a significant milestone in the plans to regenerate the town and we’d like to thank everyone involved in creating this wonderful new facility for our business community.
“Tamworth is an entrepreneurial town, and as a council, we want to support that. Whether that’s through free advice and support on starting up, grants to assist growth, or the provision of affordable, decent premises.
“Small businesses are the lifeblood of the economy, and with the right conditions, they can and should be the lifeblood of our town centres too.
“By creating new opportunities for people to work or study in the town, we can hopefully get them back into the habit of using it on a regular basis.
“This new business centre, the new college, the flexible mixed-use space that’s currently under construction opposite the Town Hall, and the work to improve both the market square and the historic gateway to the Castle Grounds, should all give people new reasons to visit.
“We hope increasing the number of daily visitors in this way will have a positive impact on all businesses in the town as people explore everything we have to offer.
“This building was home to one of Tamworth’s most successful businesses and community champions for more than 120 years and it’s wonderful to see it has been given a new lease of life in a way that is sympathetic to its past.
“We hope all its future tenants enjoy similar success for the next 120 years and beyond.”
Transforming Tamworth
The work is part of Tamworth Borough Council’s ambitious regeneration plan to restore the town as the busy, thriving heart of the community, including:
- Restoration and refurbishment of the historic vacant properties on Market Street
- A new wider gateway to Tamworth Castle grounds, including the demolition of the building previously occupied by Nationwide Building Society.
- New flexible, multi-use building for independent small businesses, near Middle Entry and the Town Hall
- Public realm works that will link all the projects together, including St Editha’s Square.
In addition, South Staffordshire College is building a new college facility replacing the demolished 1960s part of the former Co-op building. Together the projects deliver a combined investment of over £40million in Tamworth town centre.
For more information on all regeneration plans, visit www.transformingtamworth.co.uk.