After 6 months of renovations and a 6-figure investment, The Engine Room has moved into its new office space.
York Mills used to be a 19th Century piggery, once owned by the employer of Anne Bronte.
The 4,000sq ft space has been transformed into a bright, open plan workspace, which will also open to local businesses.
“It was a big move for us – not just financially, but because we’d been based in Huddersfield since The Engine Room’s journey began 17 years ago,” said founder, Darren Evans.
“But the timing is perfect. We’re maturing as a business, have shifted towards a pure brand focus, and have our eyes set on the next chapter of growth in 2019. There are two spaces for additional team members too, so York Mills is a very exciting place to be at the moment.”
The £225,000 investment was supported with £150,000 of funds – including £20,000 of support from the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership – to completely transform the mill into the company’s new HQ.
Materials were salvaged where possible, with scaffold boards re-used for the centrepiece staircase and the old mill door is now the boardroom table.
“It has been a real labour of love,” added managing director Lesley Gulliver.
“We are lucky to have worked with some great partners on the conversion, but we’ve also spent many late nights deliberating over the details and managing the build, because we wanted to get it right. We’re definitely thinking of this as our ‘forever home’ – not to mention an extension of our brand – so we put just as much design, thought and effort into it, as we would one of our client projects.”
Transformation of the cellar with its brick-vaulted ceiling will continue in 2019, to be let to small creative businesses.
