Muse – working in partnership to transform communities for nearly 40 years

2024 marks the 40th anniversary since the business that we recognise today as Muse started creating places and transforming lives through its unique brand of mixed-use regeneration in the UK, and more than 35 years since it first opened its doors in Yorkshire.

Many have been derelict, brownfield developments with significant challenges, that required close cooperation with central government and local authorities in order to bring them back into use and create vibrant and diverse communities that continue to thrive today.

It’s those themes of working in partnership to deliver long-term stewardship that continue to drive the business and deliver a brighter future for many Yorkshire towns and cities for its partners and the communities it operates in.

You can see it in action right across Yorkshire, from Merchant Gate, Wakefield, Granary Wharf, Logic Leeds, Forge Island in Rotherham, to One City Park in Bradford and Cast Theatre in Doncaster. Many of them have been developed and supported over decades and have become part of the fabric of the places we call home.

To date Muse has facilitated thousands of jobs and millions of pounds of investment in the Yorkshire region, and in May this year it announced a further place partnership with Bradford City Council to deliver 1,000 new homes in the heart of the city centre at City Village.

Forge Island

The ability to deliver complex, area-wide placemaking at this scale – and at pace – with the emphasis on sustainability, community and quality, is something that can only be achieved by working in partnership for the long term.

This is a key pillar of its approach, which is called The Muse Way, and is something it has consistently achieved since 1984. Through this approach Muse has developed innovative collaborations to unlock sites that would otherwise be unviable and deliver places that are truly stunning, but importantly places that are needed too. Waterside Places and The English Cities Fund (ECF) are just two of these national development partnerships.

Waterside Places is a joint venture with the Canal & River Trust and specialises in creating urban waterside neighbourhoods, while at the same time bringing miles of waterside locations back into use. ECF brings together Homes England, the government’s housing and regeneration agency, with Legal and General, one of the UK’s largest institutions and major global investor, to unlock urban potential by delivering area-wide and long-term regeneration projects which create meaningful change for communities.

Since 2001, Muse, as part of ECF, has delivered some of the country’s most complex and successful new places in cities including Liverpool, London, Plymouth and Salford. In Yorkshire, Granary Wharf, Leeds and Merchant Gate, Wakefield, were both only made possible by the intervention of these two unique organisations.

One City Park

Looking to the future, Muse is intent on continuing to create a positive legacy, helping to shape the Yorkshire landscape in towns and cities right across the region, but importantly it’ll be authentic placemaking for Yorkshire people. Through its work, it will bring together the best of the public and private sector, some of the biggest financial institutions and involve communities throughout the journey.

Working together, they will celebrate each individual place’s heritage, its aspirations for the future, while at the same time creating opportunities for all to thrive and prosper.

But you don’t have to just take Muse’s word for it, as a recent testimonial from Councillor Chris Read, leader of Rotherham Council and Sharon Kemp, its chief executive, attests: “On behalf of the people of Rotherham and the local authority, we would like to thank you for your continued support of Rotherham Council.

“Muse Developments are a key partner of the Council, and we value the positive and constructive relationship between our organisations as we continue to make progress in our ambitious town investment regeneration programme. It’s particularly great to see the changes happening every day as our flagship Forge Island scheme emerges from the ground and takes shape.”