Civic leaders and representatives from the city’s creative industries will be 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 at 4pm.
Cllr Nick Forbes, Leader of Newcastle City Council and Alan Clarke, Chief Executive, One North East will be attending 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 will 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.”
Toffee Factory provides creative and digital studio space for growing businesses. Its contemporary office spaces, which opened in December 2011 in the refurbished Maynards Toffee Factory located at the mouth of the Ouseburn Valley, is already home to twenty creative businesses.
The refurbishment of the old Victorian factory was led by xsite architecture, an Ouseburn-based practice. It has produced a blend of bold design and exposed brickwork. Toffee Factory builds upon the Ouseburn Valley's existing ecology of creative businesses and is a gateway development that connects the valley to the cultural regeneration of Quayside.
The mouth of the Ouseburn has always been a site of free trade and enterprise in Newcastle. The building was first erected by Newcastle City Council in 1864, truncating the Victoria Tunnel, which had been closed in 1860. It became a Toffee Factory in 1895, owned by John Vose who sold out to Maynards in 1904. The business operated until the mid-1960s, following which it gradually fell in to disrepair. When the work began on Toffee Factory, the original structure was on the point of collapse.
The Toffee Factory is located Lower Steenbergs Yard, Quayside, Ouseburn, Newcastle, NE1 2DF see www.toffeefactory.co.uk.
For more information, images and interviews about the Toffee Factory contact Lisa Tolan, lisa.tolan@toffeefactory.co.uk or phone 0191 375 9000.
High Quality Images of the Toffee Factory, including at night are available to download, please ask for access. Toffee Factory provides creative and digital studio space for growing businesses. Its contemporary office spaces opened in December 2011 in the refurbished Maynards Toffee Factory located at the mouth of the Ouseburn Valley.
The development cost £6m and was funded by Regional Development Agency One North East through ERDF Single Programme, the European Union’s ERDF Competitiveness Programme 2007-13 and Newcastle City Council funding. It is owned by Newcastle City Council and operated by multi-award winning company Creative Space Management.
Within two months of opening, Toffee Factory is almost fully occupied by independent creative businesses. With 25 fully serviced offices, shared office space and virtual office services, around 200 people are based at Toffee Factory.
Firms based in the building specialise in illustration, animation, software development, product design, architecture, film post production and media agency work amongst other subsectors. Several of these businesses carry out a significant part of their work for overseas clients.
The refurbishment of the old Victorian factory was led by xsite architecture, an Ouseburn-based practice. It has produced a blend of bold design and exposed brickwork.
The building has already 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.
Part of the brief for Toffee Factory is to raise awareness of the strength of the regional creative and digital sector at a national and international level. See www.toffeefactory.co.uk.
Page last updated: 23 May, 2012
