NEW OFFICES CREATED IN SUNDERLAND’S HISTORIC CITY CENTRE QUARTER
A grant scheme to assist businesses refurbish their properties in a regenerated area of Sunderland city centre has helped a company to create over 8,000 square feet of new office space.
GMB, Britain’s General Union, has renovated the top floors of its Sunniside offices in Lynas House, Frederick Street, to provide fully refurbished offices, which are now on the market to let. The new premises could bring up to 40 new jobs in the city centre.
The £400,000 makeover was assisted with a £50,000 contribution from Sunniside Partnership, who run a grant scheme in conjunction with Sunderland City Council and One North East, for new and existing businesses in the area.
Following a 14 week renovation programme carried out by North East contractors Howard Russell and managed by Newcastle consultants CK21, Lynas House now boasts two floors of high quality office space.
Tommy Brennan, Regional Secretary for GMB, said: “We are currently based on the ground floor and the two floors above us have been in need of a makeover for a while. When we found out about the grant scheme we decided to take the opportunity to give them a new lease of life and expand the commercial offer in the city centre.
“We are so pleased with the work. We’ve put in new windows, new frontages, full air conditioning and a lift and it has really opened up the space. It’s much warmer and lighter and has lively views over Sunniside, which is a really beautiful part of the city centre. We are looking to rent it out either as a whole or in floors.”
To date grants totalling almost £1 million have been awarded to 26 businesses in Sunniside.
Sunniside is home to 160 listed buildings and the heritage led grant scheme has helped to secure a high standard of conservation and design to fit in with the historic surroundings.
Sunniside Partnership, working with Sunderland City Council, its parent company Sunderland arc, as well as One North East and the Homes and Communities Agency, has helped to attract more than £100m of investment into the historic city centre quarter since 2003.
Director of Sunniside Partnership, Ben Hall, said: “It’s great to see local companies making good use of their existing space with the help of the grant scheme.
“We welcome GMB’s efforts to provide some good quality office space in a prime location, which will help to bring more jobs into the city centre.”