Duke opens Beechwood House tomorrow
26 Nov 2008
Royal Visit: The Duke of Glouchester (left)
TWO historic Newport buildings will get a royal visitor tomorrow.
Beechwood House and Malpas Court were being officially opened by the Duke of Gloucester following a multi-million pound restoration programme.
Both grade-ll listed buildings were derelict when Newport city council led an ambitious project to bring them back into use.
Beechwood House is opening as an entrepreneurship centre while Malpas Court is to be a sustainability centre, managed by Newport Wastesavers.
Both redevelopments were made possible thanks to a successful bid by the council to the Wales European Funding Office which helped secure external funding of £4.3 million for Beechwood and £3.5 million for Malpas Court.
A further grant of £750,000 was given by the Heritage Lottery Fund for Malpas Court.
Cllr Ed Townsend, cabinet member for economic development, said: "These historic buildings are symbolic of Newport's rich industrial heritage and seeing them restored and brought back into use in such a positive way is a real success story for the city."
Venure Wales, one of the country's leading business support organisations, will be managing Beechwood House.
It will feature workspaces for small and medium sized enterprises as well as new community facilities.
Phil Cooper, managing director of Venture Wales, described Beechwood House as a landmark development for such businesses as it provided flexible, high quality and appropriate space at an affordable price.
"Entrepreneurship can be a great regenerator and our aim is to create a hub which the community can be proud of."
As well as helping start-up and growing firms, Venture Wales also gives advice to businesses struggling in the current climate, providing a welcome boost to Newport's economy, he added.
