Cleator Moor Co-op

Cleator Moor was once a busy mining centre in the heart of West Cumbria. With the closure of the mines 20 years ago, the town has had to work hard to establish new sources of employment, and to generate a new entrepreneurial spirit. At the heart of this slow recovery process is the Cleator Moor Business Centre – a business development and managed workshop with over 50 units.

A once thriving Co-operative Store closed in 1997 and remained empty as various private plans for the building failed to get off the ground. Copeland Council bought the building in 2004 and employed the architects Johnson and Wright to come up with plans for its renewal. Porter Brown Solutions was employed to undertake the market analysis and to write the Business Case and the Funding Applications.

Market failure remains a major problem in West Cumbria and Business Planning requires just the right mix of public support without adding to the problem but offering unsustainable solutions. Using many years of experience in West Cumbria, Porter Brown Solutions were able to make the case which allowed for the maximum 50% Grant for European ERDF funding, as well as considerable additional support from the North West Regional Development Agency, English Heritage and Copeland Borough Council. With this support, a complete Business Plan was prepared with cash flow and profit and lost forecasts providing sustainable income stream from the new workshop. This will enable the employment of new members of staff and the provision of much needed state of the art office facilities.

The completely revitalised building with state of the art facilities will open in the early summer of 2006, providing space for new business growth, as well as an attractive location for businesses moving into the area. This is the fourth expansion phase of the Cleator Moor Business Centre. Porter Brown Solutions are proud to have been involved in supporting the Centre’s growth. Our aim is to create solutions that are sustainable but not static, generating new opportunities over time.

“Porter Brown Solutions provided invaluable guidance to the Project Team in developing a sustainable business case in tandem with the early design development for the £1.5million conversion of the nineteenth century former Co-op building. As a result of their active participation in the applications process, funding was achieved to enable the work to go ahead”. – Alastair McGregor, Johnston and Wright, Lead Consultant.