PROJECT SUMMARY

The project will redevelop a range of redundant farm buildings to establish a hospitality centre for businesses and the local community. This will include micro-enterprise office space, cafe and conference facilities.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Update October 2008 - read the latest from the Monks Yard Business and Hospitality Centre project at Horton Cross, at the end of this article.

The ‘Gateway’ is an innovative business hospitality hub which will be a centre of activity for the local and passing trade as well as a community in its own right. The Gateway is an ambitious project in an excellent location that will provide high quality, affordable office and conference space for small businesses in Chard and Ilminster.

The first phase, which will be complete by the end of 2007 will include conferencing rooms, a cafe and a suite of offices and hot-desking for micro businesses.

It will target particularly on the social enterprise and creative industry markets because of the need there is in this sector and because of its close fit with the ethos of the Gateway.

Services will include: a cafe, one large and one small conference rooms with catering from the cafe, over 100 sq m of office space made up of self contained units and open-plan desk space for hot-desking as well as to rent.

This new venture backed financially by landlord, tenant and bank, with interest from Somerset Rural Renaissance Workspace programme, will turn around the poor performing family farming business enabling it to continue for another generation.

The team delivering this will be Andrew and Marilyn Osborne, who live at Horton Cross and are second generation farmers. They will lead the vision, strategy and on the ground the day to day management of the centre. They are being backed by Resonance Limited who will project manage the development and then market and manage the business space.

Andrew Osborne said: “Since the dairy business closed down in 2005, we have been developing this project. We are thrilled that it is finally going ahead. We are very grateful for the support we have had from Somerset Rural Renaissance Partnership, our landlords and the rest of the team who have believed in our vision.”

Below are some of the benefits of the project:

• The project will offer new employment opportunities in running the cafe and conference centre as well as provide affordable office accommodation for new and growing businesses.

• The project will encourage, through having a well-defined target market and through the design of the buildings, collaboration and networking which will enhance the commercial prospects of its tenants. It is intended to facilitate niche networking groups and co-operative purchasing.

• The cafe will provide a new distribution channel for local produce.

• Local groups in the community will be offered good value facilities for meetings, training and conferencing.

The project is planned to retain the essence of the local ambience in terms of the building’s architecture with emphasis on low environmental impact through design.

Market research and discussions with local businesses has demonstrated a need for additional facilities for meetings and conferences in the area.

Market forces and indicative research indicate that micro-business space is in great demand and likely to continue growing. Success will come from the commitment of project team, the support that exists within the local community and the professionalism of the offerings.

For more information about the proposed facilities please visit the Monks Yard website.

Project update April 2008

This project is nearing completion and the Monks Yard Business and Hospitality Centre opens for business in April

Horton Cross Phase 2

Additional funding has now been awarded through the Workspace programme to extend the original project. An additional building (a former storage barn) will now be converted to provide three additional rooms available for hire either as a stand alone agreement or in addition to the other buildings on site. Use will be flexible from office space to additional accommodation for Conference use. This will offer greater choice to surrounding businesses and community groups.

Phase 2 will be completed by the end of May 2008

Project Update October 2008

The Monks Yard has been a tremendous success, developed from redundant farm buildings at Horton Cross Farm near Ilminster.  Just off the A303 it has had a constant stream ofvisitors to the cafésince opening and word is spreading of the attractive meeting venues available.  The final part of this project is a business hub with services including internet access.  It is envisaged that this will be particularly attractive to people working from home, enabling them to rent space on an ad hoc basis and taking advantage of a networking opportunity that is limited when one works alone. 

Please see www.themonksyard.co.uk for more information.