City of York Council has reached a deal with government which could generate as much as £40m in additional funding to maximise the impact and benefits of York Central, the revitalisation of th4 45-hectare site alongside the railway station.

Proposals for a project to bring around 1,000 new homes to Hull city centre have been approved by Cabinet. Schemes on three city centre brownfield sites will now move a step further to preparing and marketing the sites for developer interest. One site, known as East Bank Urban Village, will see up to 850 new homes, with another 200 properties at a second site at St Stephen’s Place. It is anticipated these sites would offer the potential for high-quality apartments providing social rooftop areas and spaces for families, outdoor play and integrated green spaces, as well as private gardens and sports provisions. Myton City Gateway is expected to be of mixed commercial use and, given its prominence and proximity to the A63 Castle Street improvements, could deliver an impressive entrance to the city centre with opportunities for retail, commercial and leisure developments. The overall ambition of the projects is to offer new, inclusive neighbourhoods where people choose to live, work and play, all whilst developing unused brownfield land in the city centre. This would combine Hull’s unique features to create highly sustainable mixed-use urban developments, as well as balanced and diverse high-quality living which respects and reflects the history of each site.

Dean Clough in Halifax is to be the home of seven new independent operators together having taken almost 5,000 sq ft on the historic 22-acre site.

The former mill complex has been transformed as a place for work rest and play for about 3,000 people, and continues redevelopment to provide unique spaces.

K Jones Interiors has secured a new space within the recently renovated Bowling Mill Courtyard to provide residential and commercial interior design consultations. Session stylist Dawn Walsh has also taken space for a new hair salon, whilst beautician, Alina Balika has relocated her studio to be at Dean Clough.

Dot The Jewellers, which has been designing unique, custom jewellery for over 20 years has relocated to occupy one of the new retail units following recent redevelopment of the historic D Mill Courtyard.

Piece by Piece Physiotherapy has set up a clinic to offer expert help for back pain, osteoarthritis, sports injuries, concussions, and vertigo. This complements existing wellbeing services.

Northpark Pictures has also secured a lease for a new studio at Dean Clough. The multi award winning film production company produces video and content for brands including McDonalds, Virgin Atlantic, Enterprise and Oxo.

The Engine Room, a firm favourite café at Dean Clough for the last ten years, has secured a new lease on its 1,130 sq ft premises following new ownership.

Jeremy Hall, Chairman and MD at Dean Clough Ltd, said: “Independent businesses are the life blood of our high street, and we are always keen to offer flexible lease structures to support them. We warmly welcome them into the Dean Clough family which continues to provide choice, innovation, diversity, and authenticity for our audiences.

“We are progressing apace to expand the provision of high quality, Grade A workspaces for large and small businesses and we are unique in terms of the doorstep provision which includes considerable cultural experiences.”

Dean Clough is located on the edge of Halifax town centre, between Leeds and Manchester, and just 15 minutes from the M62 with direct train links to Leeds, Manchester, and London.

Dudleys Consulting Engineers will assess the last two remaining buildings for redevelopment at the Sunny Bank Mills regeneration site in the Farsley area of Leeds.

The company will advise on the Structural and Civil design plans to support the redevelopment of the former 3,000 sq ft Dye House and the 2,500 sq ft Boiler House to enable refurbishment into modern, mixed-use accommodation.

Sunny Bank Mills is a collection of historic buildings, forming the community heart of Farsley town in Leeds. The site was founded in 1829 by a group of weavers to become one of the world’s most important fine worsted mills. Over the last ten years, considerable investment has been made by sixth generation family owners William and John Gaunt to regenerate the site to become a modern mixed-use complex and cultural hub where over 350 sustainable jobs have been created so far.  As well as flexible space for businesses, it includes a heritage museum, art gallery and spaces for events and exhibitions. Sunny Bank Mills prominence as a cultural hub continues to grow further having featured in numerous film, TV and radio events.

Dudleys has been retained as consulting engineers for the duration of redevelopment spanning over ten years, during which time numerous buildings have been refurbished on the 4.5-hectare site.

Peter Dixon, Director at Dudleys, said: “The site is of considerable heritage value and so we must always seek to maximise the potential to retain as much of the old as well as incorporating the new.

“For all of the once-derelict and dilapidated buildings we have managed to safely retain the substantial core as well as the historic buildings’ fabric to preserve the industrial setting within more contemporary elements to deliver some characterful spaces that are now thriving.”

John Gaunt of Sunny Bank Mills, said: “The story of Sunny Bank Mills is of considerable note, not just for Leeds but for the UK as the world leader in textile manufacturing.  Since the value of weaving was lost, we have worked tirelessly to sympathetically regenerate the site for modern day use and maintain its employment potential.”

“We have worked with Dudleys for the entire redevelopment process, and they have proved to be an invaluable partner throughout. We are delighted to appoint the team to advise us on the potential of our last remaining buildings.”

In May UKREiiF was hosted in Leeds for the second year running – bringing over 7,500 people from across the UK and internationally to the city region, and a new report by ARUP has revealed it gave a £12.1m boost to the local Leeds City Region economy. The event, which brings together investors, developers, local authorities and the wider real estate and infrastructure sectors looks to facilitate and connect businesses to drive sustainable and inclusive regeneration – but outside of the major deals and projects which take place from the conversations at UKREiiF there is also a huge benefit to the region with the event bringing fresh eyes to the city. ARUP calculated the figure by working closely with event organisers UKREiiF to use data sources on delegates, location of travel, nights in the city region and more, in addition to data from Visit Britain, Visit Leeds and the STEAM Tourism Economic Impact model. The direct economic impact looks at organiser spend, visitor spend and fringe event organisation spend, with visitor spend looking at areas such as accommodation, food and drink, shopping, local travel, evening events and entertainment, sightseeing and more. The Deloitte and Oxford Economics Multiplier Model was then utilised to capture the proportion of money then injected back into the local economy. Some of the key highlights from the report include: 1. 75% of event delegates enjoyed at least one overnight stay in the region, with 55% spending at least two overnight stays. 2. This lead to 11,663 bed nights being taken in local hotels 3. £4.5m in visitor spend including food/drink, accommodation, shopping and entertainment 4. £7,177,040 of direct economic impact 5. £12,078,958 total wider economic impact 6. Huge increase on the £5,500,000 generated in the inaugural year meaning UKREiiF has generated £17,600,000 for the local economy in the space of two years Speaking of the announcement Keith Griffiths, Chief Executive Officer at UKREiiF, said: “UKREiiF created a real buzz across the city region with hotel occupancy at 100% and bars and restaurants seeing a huge increase on usual midweek trade, and this year the local businesses really got behind the event which saw bars and restaurants open later and really help to amplify the total from £5,500,000 in the first year to over £12,000,000 in the second. “We also worked closely with the likes of Leeds City Council to showcase the city region in advance which has helped boost visit stays with some staying for more than 5 days in the region to add tourist days either side, and we’re looking forward to working even more with the Council and the Business Improvement District to build on this for 2024. “And it’s worth saying that this economic impact just looks at the local level of visitors and spend – UKREiiF showcases over £100bn of investment opportunities across the UK and the deals and projects which are secured and signed from UKREiiF mean the event has become a real staple in the industry diary and one which is set to have an even bigger economic impact across the wider country.”