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PRIVACY
Economic Development

Leicester creative office hub could support 240 jobs

Government commits £8.6m to turn factory complex into space for start-ups and growing businesses

Artists impression of Pilot House which backs onto Duke Street, Leicester

Plans for a new council-run office complex for creative businesses have won £8.6m from the government's levelling up fund.

Leicester City Council wants to transform a former factory which it owns in King Street into a new hub which could support 250 jobs.

The Pilot House site is made up of five interconnected buildings and would be aimed at start-ups and growing businesses.

The council announced the proposals last year, and secured 75 per cent of the funding needed for the £11.4 million project – including £2.8 million which it has committed.

The former factory, which sits off New Walk, was built around 1900 and is one of many industrial heritage buildings in the city.

Existing industrial features, including parquet flooring and exposed brick and beams, would be retained, and an entrance into a new courtyard would be created from King Street.

The central courtyard and an atrium would be built for shared use, as well as dedicated zone for technical and digital businesses and a co-working lounge.

The new space would accommodate creative industries and support training and skills development, education programmes meetings and events.