Eckersley Mill, Wigan

The Heaton Group

This site is adjacent to the iconic Wigan Pier and is one of the largest brownfield sites in Greater Manchester, having capacity to accommodate 800 homes, offices, a hotel, commercial and leisure space. It is a highly complex site with a number of delivery challenges including extensive up-front infrastructure, ground remediation, utilities upgrades, demolition and conversion of listed mills.  Acting for the landowner/developer (the Heaton Group) Hive were commissioned to provide project management, governance, delivery and infrastructure funding advice.

Delivery

Having established an agreed project governance structure through close working with Wigan Council, Homes England and Historic England, Hive identified a suitable funding programme through the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Brownfield Land Fund (BLF). Working to a very tight timescale Hive led the funding bid, undertaking the following workstreams: Project management of multi-disciplinary team to assimilate the range of work to support the bid; Project plan and programme to co-ordinate work to meet the challenging deadline; Bid strategy and positioning / liaison with GMCA; Formulation of high-level business case, including completion of a report, proforma and meeting related funding criteria requirements; and Negotiation with the funding body on the grant funding agreement.

Outcome

The outcome was a successful bid where we successfully securing £1.8m of BLF, with feedback from the funding body that the bid was one of the most comprehensive, robust and credible that they had seen. The development has now commenced, unlocking a site which has been stalled for decades.

More Projects

Working alongside Layer.studio and PLACED, we are supporting Bury Council and the Radcliffe Neighbourhood Board to prepare Radcliffe’s 10-Year Pride in Place Regeneration Plan, helping to shape a long-term regeneration vision rooted in local priorities, community engagement and evidence-led decision making.

The government’s new Pride in Place Programme represents a significant shift in how regeneration funding is delivered, placing communities much closer to the centre of decision making through locally led Neighbourhood Boards and longer-term place investment plans.

We secured £24m of Good Growth funding for the Heaton Group through a fiercely competitive process. Without this essential grant, the project simply couldn’t proceed. Acting as the keystone between key players at GMCA and Wigan Council, we coordinated a compelling funding submission that demonstrated the scheme’s transformational potential.

Town centre regeneration is a political priority across Greater Manchester, but delivery depends on making the numbers work. Cotton Works is designed to be the catalyst that unlocks wider investment in Wigan town centre. It demonstrates what’s possible when you align public sector ambition with private sector capability, creating places that actually work for local people. That’s what this funding achieves.

 

 

Instructed by Hive Homes to provide planning consultancy advice in respect of a residential scheme proposed on a previously developed site in the Green Belt. We initially led the pre-application discussions with Bury Council, who were also the landowner.