HUNDREDS of jobs could be created in a multi-million pound development of a landmark building.
Top businessmen yesterday announced their ambitious plan to make Globe Worsted Mill in Slaithwaite the heart of a new “Sili-Colne Valley” in Huddersfield.
Hartley Property Group and manufacturing giant 3M have teamed up with Kirklees Council and the University of Huddersfield to set up a new £10m technology centre at the site.
The huge Globe Worsted Mill which has dominated the centre of Slaithwaite since it was opened in 1887 has been empty since 2005.
But University of Huddersfield vice-chancellor Prof Bob Cryan said yesterday that the redevelopment could transform the Victorian building into a nationally important site.
He said: “Last year George Osborne announced the creation of nine centres of excellence in manufacturing. It’s important that Globe Worsted becomes one of those nine centres.
“We produce some really bright graduates but there’s not a lot of opportunities for them to stay in West Yorkshire after they graduate.
“This development will allow them to create local businesses. That benefits them and the university.”
Hartley Property Group and 3M yesterday released the money for the first stage of the redevelopment which they hope will be open by next year.
Huddersfield University graduate Sir George Buckley, who has just retired as chairman of 3M, was at yesterday’s launch at the mill.
“Today is the building’s new birth certificate,” he said.
“The site is available but, more importantly, it’s close to the university meaning we can link in with the skills of young entrepreneurs.”
Hartley Property Group chairman Alan Lewis believes the development could be a huge boost to the area.
“We hope an innovation centre in Slaithwaite will harness innovation in Lancashire and Yorkshire,” he said.
“We hope to make the Colne Valley into the ‘Sili-Colne Valley’.
“This mill used to employ 700 people and we hope to achieve that and a little bit more.
“At 10.30am this morning the money from our group and 3M went into the bank account to start the project rolling.
“The funding is substantial. We’re talking about a project, when it’s finished, of about £10m.”
The investors hope the 150,000sq ft building will become a hub for environmental technology, manufacturing and design.
Mr Lewis believes the innovation centre will build on the history of the site.
“The people who put together these mills created the wealth of the UK and I’m sure we can do that again,” he said.
“We’ve got to make sure that the technologies we’re looking at are global in their application.
“We’ve got to give kudos back to industry so that it’s no longer seen as the poor relation.
“The country has got to get back to making things and ensure that we’re creative in global terms.”
Kirklees director of investment Jacqui Gedman also attended yesterday’s launch.
“We’re really pleased to be involved in this,” she said.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for local people and we hope that businesses will set up here and be successful.”
GLOBE WORSTED
The company, which was founded in 1887, produced high-quality worsted yarns.
The firm was taken over by the Bradford-based Amalgamated Textiles Company in 1923.
In the 1960s Globe Worsted employed 700 people, but this had dropped to 200 by the 1980s.
By 1987 the company was spinning 10 million miles of yarn a year, producing luxury fibres such as alpaca, mohair, angora and camel-hair.
The Slaithwaite mill closed in 2005 with the loss of 120 jobs.
