The External Funding team recently
secured funding to turn this redundant building into 3,500 ft2 of
small business workspace units to encourage small rural SME's to
expand and grow. The project is led by Foundation East who
have created a community land trust to manage the site once it is
converted into business units. The Community Land Trust will manage
the site in the interests of the local community who will have an
active say in how it is managed. The project has received £170,000
from East of England Development Agency, £159,000 from European
Transitional Objective 2, £10,000 from Suffolk County Council
Corporate Regeneration funding, with additional loan and grant
support from the Adventure Capital Fund and from Foundation East's
own funds.
The Hempworks will not only create 8 business units but will also
provide community meeting and training space. It will also offer
established links to business support for businesses in the units
and in the Halesworth area, as well as encouraging overall more
business activity in the town. The project has links to the
Cut Arts Centre where further arts related business units have been
developed - so Halesworth is becoming the place for businesses in
North Suffolk to locate with a range of good quality premises and
associated support available.