The confirmation last week that Stoke-on-Trent will be a HS2 connected city was followed up by the announcement of our vision for around Stoke Station, revealed at MIPIM Cannes this week. The number of visitors using Stoke Station last year rose to 3.1m, which is more than twelve times the population of the city. Hardly surprising given our brilliant geographical location and positive narrative of a city on the up.
With Staffordshire University strongly investing into Stoke, and the City Council now firmly embedded in the town and investing in the resurgent Spode site, now is definitely the time to look at how we can make the most of underused assets around the station. This starts with the ambitious plans for Swift House, a warehouse/office complex that viewed from the canal is actually a bonded warehouse with a waterfront view. The Stoke Station Masterplan I unveiled at MIPIM reimagines this site in a number of different possible options, from hotel and conference complex, to high quality apartments, a mix of office and business use, or student residential accommodation.
As we look to concentrate our services in Stoke town, Swift House has become semi-vacant and it’s prime location by a growing railway station offers a great opportunity to maximise the potential of Stoke-on-Trent, as well as potentially generating further income to support the services we know residents value. More detail in this Sentinel article.