Ask submits Knowledge Mill plans
NORTH West property firm Ask Developments has submitted plans to Tameside Council for a new education facility at St Petersfield in Ashton-under-Lyne.
The 9,245sq ft facility will provide Tameside College with a ‘Knowledge Mill’ – an enterprise and training resource offering business courses for budding entrepreneurs
The goal is to create an incubator within the Knowledge Mill, giving fledgling firms time to hone their ideas before launching in their own right.
Designed by Aedas Architects, the building will cover three floors and will provide teaching spaces, staff offices and a small cafe with an outdoor seating area. The café will be open to local businesses and the general public as well as college staff and students.
John Hughes, director at Manchester-based Ask said; “Tameside College’s Knowledge Mill would be a valuable addition to St Petersfield.
“As well as providing budding entrepreneurs with the skill set needed to move their business forward, it will also ensure that new and existing companies are retained within Tameside rather relocating elsewhere.”
Jenny Worsdale, vice principal at Tameside College, said, “This development will allow the College to build upon the successful work it is already doing in enterprise and innovation and will develop a new generation of entrepreneurs in Tameside.”
The St Petersfield development will provide 280,000 sq ft of high quality office space with retail and leisure amenity facilities totalling 400,000 sq ft.
Once complete, it has the capacity to sustain almost 2,000 jobs and will have attracted private sector capital investment of over £42m.
The scheme is being delivered through a public/private sector partnership, with £14.5m of North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA), Home and Communities Agency and ERDF money already committed to the 13-acre site.
