A derelict pub in Stockport town centre is to be converted into a commercial office building, following a successful planning application.
The former Ye Olde Woolpack pub will be converted into a four-storey commercial space, converting the cellar and loft into office space and bringing the derelict site on Brinksway, Stockport back into use as the offices of Thind Wealth Advisory. The wealth management firm intend to relocate to the building from Cheadle Hulme once work is completed. The financial services firm currently employs approximately 15 staff, and their relocation represents a significant investment in the town centre.
Plans for the building will see the ground floor and cellar used for meeting rooms and collaborative workspace, with the first floor and loft conversion used for staff offices. The conversion will create an additional 490 sq m of commercial office space in Stockport town centre, overlooking the River Mersey, the iconic Stockport Pyramid and in easy reach of the M60, with Thind planning to initially let some of the office space.
The repurposing of the Ye Olde Woolpack building will also see the condition of the exterior of the building improved, which will have wider impact on the surrounding area, given the site’s prominence. Ye Olde Woolpack sits on a main thoroughfare into Stockport town centre, close to the Stockport Pyramid and just outside the Stockport Town Centre West Mayoral, which is to undergo significant regeneration as a new sustainable urban community in the town in the next decade.
Previous owners of the building had submitted plans for Ye Olde Woolpack to be converted into a 15-bedroom House of Multiple Occupancy, but were rejected by Stockport Council in 2018. Retaining the building for a commercial purpose has mitigated some of the concerns raised by the council, as the site is of medium- to high-risk of flooding and within an air quality management area.
Burnley-based LMC are the architects on the scheme, with the supporting statement for the application prepared by Stockport based Broadgrove Planning and Development.