CEO reflects on “phenomenal” Piece Hall success

It’s been a “phenomenal” first year for the transformed Piece Hall in Halifax, which has already sent positive economic waves through the town.

The former cloth trading hall, originally built in 1779, opened again on Yorkshire Day this year, 1 August, after undergoing a £19m transformation which began around three years ago. The Georgian building is now run as a charitable organisation.

TheBusinessDesk.com went to see the transformed Piece Hall and to meet Nicky Chance-Thomson, who was appointed the chief executive earlier this year, after spending several years on the charity’s board. She described the building as a national asset which she also had a personal connection to, after finding out a member of her family traded cloth within its walls.

Chance-Thompson loves everything about heritage buildings and what they contribute to the economy. She said: “I am passionate about understanding how we support the town of Halifax. I know that footfall in surrounding shops is already up 20-30% and house prices are rising; so we are already seeing the positive economic impacts the Piece Hall can deliver.

“We are the start of a really important renaissance and that is just phenomenal.”

Chance-Thompson said that Piece-Hall’s board would look to undertake economic impact study next year and that it was important the venue also signposted visitors to other Calderdale destinations to have a collaborative approach to the success of the region’s economy. Therefore, there are plans in place to launch heritage and arts trails in the coming years. “The challenge is how we get people to understand the whole area. It’s not just about the Piece Hall,” she added.

Before opening its doors, the Piece Hall’s business plan stated that the board anticipated welcoming 1.6m visitors in the first full year of operation. However, the venue announced it was well ahead of those projections in just four months – when it reached the 1m visitor milestone earlier this month.

Currently 60% full across the shop units, with online stores being among those choosing the venue to open their first customer facing shops, the Piece Hall offers a mix of independent retailers.

The board was inundated with applications from potential retailers but they were selective as to who was successful; something that Chance-Thompson was clear on from the outset. Her career background is in the planning, launching and transformation of major retail, transport and heritage schemes. She is passionate about bringing the right mix of retail, events space, promotion and infrastructure together to make a scheme thrive alongside existing businesses and cultural offerings.

Chance-Thompson said: “We have a robust decision-making process in place. We want retailers who can demonstrate sustained growth and are not just a flash in the pan. Everybody needs to be supportive of the visitors’ concept. When people go to a destination now, they want something interesting and different – for us, that’s independent retailers which sell Yorkshire and UK produced goods.”

And the board has its sights on attracting an independent toy retailer to cater for the family market, as well as independent restaurants, for the remaining space.

So, what about next year’s vision? Well, there will be several “big” events hosted at the venue. Chance-Thompson added:  “In 2018, we are going to continue with the good work we have already done but we cannot afford to be complacent. We’re ambitious to keep the high bar we have set.

“There is something very compelling about the Piece Hall which makes you want to support it, be involved with it and be part of its journey and I feel incredibly lucky to work here and have such a great team and board.”

The team are also on the lookout for board members to bring even more depth of experience to the charity.

Chance-Thompson said she was looking forward to continuing driving forward with her “dream” job to put Halifax on the regional, national and international map.