Construction and refurbishment specialist Skyline Property Solutions starts work on £1.5m digital and creative industries hub in Merseyside with details on when it will open also revealed. Tony McDonough reports

Skyline Property Solutions has started work on the £1.5m Enterprise Arcade project in Southport that will create a new hub for digital and creative entrepreneurs.

Sefton Council is funding the scheme using Government Town Deal funding. The authority says it expects tenants to be moving into the facility by the end of 2024.

Based in Crown Buildings in the town centre, the Enterprise Arcade will comprise almost 10,000 sq ft of space for start-up businesses and entrepreneurs, focused on the digital and creative sectors.

In July 2022 Sefton named Liverpool-based Baltic Creative, which has been instrumental in the rebirth of the Baltic Triangle district in the city, as the preferred operator for the Enterprise Arcade.

However, in May 2023 the council revealed it had changed its mind and would instead manage the facility itself. Contractor Skyline is a Liverpool-based business.

While the face of the building won’t change, scaffolding has been erected to help facilitate the refurbishment works and keep passers-by safe.

Leading North West digital expert Jon Corner, who helped drive technology sector businesses to Media City in Salford, will also be joining the Enterprise Arcade project team.

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Cllr Christine Howard, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Skills, said: “I’m delighted that work has now started on this key project.

“The new, repurposed workspace will join Southport’s regenerated and already successful Market in demonstrating how new life can be brought back to these fantastic buildings, encouraging more investment and helping secure a positive future.

“Our Enterprise Arcade will be the ideal location for a whole host of start-up and growing businesses and individuals, whether they be in the early incubator stages of developing their brand or simply in need of flexibility and an agile approach.”