Some great news for skills and the town centre. Ipswich Borough Council (IBC) is inviting proposals from potential partners to develop and operate a new cutting-edge Creative Hub in the heart of the town. This will bring people and jobs into the town centre and will help grow skills to improve job prospects.
As a centre for technology and digital creative businesses, the Hub will have a specialist focus on screen, media, and gaming to support innovation and business development in these areas. It is envisaged the space will be designed with a contemporary flair, featuring open work areas, meeting rooms, and breakout spaces to foster creativity and networking. The successful applicant will have the vision and expertise to create and operate a unique environment that fosters collaboration, supports start-ups, and develops successful businesses.
IBC is offering a centrally located, self-contained space, totalling almost 5,000 sq ft, ideal for transforming into the Creative Hub on the lower ground floor of the Town Hall. This has its own entrance on Princes Street and natural daylight on two sides. It has great potential for providing open-working, meeting and breakout areas for individuals and groups that can offer flexible workspaces, mentorship programs, networking events and access to support services.
The project is being funded by £750,000 from the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). This is one of the LEPs last acts before being wound-up. A replacement body, the Suffolk Business Board has taken over the work that the LEP did. The Business Board was featured in the Star last week.
IBC are looking for initial expressions of interest by the end of this week, with the aim of selecting an operator by the end of October. The Hub will require fitting out, which is expected to take up to 12 months.
Once the Creative Hub is delivered, the operator will be granted a ten-year lease with an obligation to manage the space in accordance with an agreed set of objectives.
The operator will pay a notional annual rent to the Council for the space, plus an agreed profit share after taking into account all running costs and a management charge for the Creative Hub.
This Creative Hub is surely a great example of a Labour council playing its part in delivering economic stability as part of a long-term plan for change.
Personally, I am very pleased to see that growing the economy on secure foundations will be the number one mission of the next Labour government. Economic stability is the foundation for growth. On this foundation of stability, Labour will bring back growth and make working people better off.
Rachel Reeves will deliver stability with iron discipline, guided by strong fiscal rules, robust economic institutions, and a new ‘fiscal lock’ to ensure the Liz Truss mini budget that sent mortgage rates soaring, will never be repeated.
Ipswich Labour will be pleased to play our part in this economic stability. The Creative Hub will be great for growing the hi-tech economy, but it’s not the only sector that is growing. We have already invested in the former sugar beet site and nearly 1000 jobs have been created there. The last 20 acres is now on sale and will bring more jobs to the town. We have some other smaller industrial sites that will come to fruition in the coming years.
The Creative Hub will bring together tech and digital, creative and cultural talents to become a vibrant, productive part of our town centre for the future. There is real potential to revitalise and rejuvenate this space into the cornerstone of a thriving creative community.