St Helens Chamber puts surplus town centre building on the market with a £350,000 price tag. Tony McDonough reports
St Helens Chamber is putting a surplus building in the town centre on the market with a price tag of £350,000.
Located at 4-6 Hardshaw Street, the four-storey building was acquired by the chamber 22 years ago. It had been fitted out as a training and advice centre, with a hair salon on the second floor.
It was already planned that courses held at the centre would be transferred to the chamber’s main headquarters in Salisbury Street, or other locations, later this year. Just 35% of the space is being utilised hence the decision to sell.
Proceeds from the disposal of the building, which is being marketed by Simon Roddam of BE Group, will be reinvested into the chamber’s training division.
Each year more than 2,000 people attend courses and receive careers support at the chamber in subjects ranging from bookkeeping and digital marketing to interview skills and preparation for apprenticeships.
Savings of £44,000 per year, plus the capital receipt from the sale of the building will allow the chamber to deliver more support, said Tracy Mawson, its chief executive.
“We periodically review our assets to make sure we are making best use of them and that they are helping us achieve our mission of making St Helens a competitive and attractive place for employers,” explained Tracy.
“Releasing 4 – 6 Hardshaw Street back to the market will create jobs in its refurbishment and allow new uses to emerge as the town centre continues its regeneration. It’s a prominent former bank building and I’ll be interested to follow its next iteration.
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“This is a popular pedestrianised street in the heart of the town centre and we expect interest in the building to be high. Subject to planning, it lends itself to a number of uses and has the benefit of a lift to all floors.”
No courses or services are being discontinued or changed. A purpose-built salon will be hired to deliver the chamber’s popular hairdressing courses.
Tracy added: “The St Helens economy has weathered a number of storms lately in pretty good shape.
“Our range of training and service programmes will continue to be forward-facing in terms of what is needed to build on the town’s competitiveness.”