Member Article

Yorkshire entrepreneurs creating 30 jobs with £350k development of derelict building

Yorkshire entrepreneurs Heather Baker and Jonathan Thornton are redeveloping a derelict building into a nursery and creating 30 jobs in the process.

The company has secured a £350,000 funding package from HSBC’s West Yorkshire Commercial Centre to support the acquisition of the site and redevelopment costs, in a deal led by senior commercial manager Tom Sikora and Commercial Manager Phil Briggs.

The finance has been provided from HSBC’s £500 million SME Fund to specifically support businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber.

The derelict Knoll Nursing Home, which had become a ‘haven for anti-social behaviour’ since closing in 2008, is being brought back to life by the entrepreneurs.

The new Woodlands Park Day Nursery at the Apperley Bridge, Bradford site, will be opened in May following a complete redevelopment of the site, undertaken by Jonathan and his team.

Heather Baker said: “We are very excited about the nursery launch and we have received so many positive comments from the local community for redeveloping the Knoll.

“HSBC has been very supportive and easy to deal with. The bank was the only one that could see what we were trying to do with the project and had the vision to support it.”

HSBC West Yorkshire area commercial director Mike Hemingway said: “It is great to see the Knoll being brought back from its derelict state, it really had become a blight in the community and had been targeted by arsonists a couple of times.

“We worked with the business to understand their requirements and their vision for the business, and have been delighted to support the project.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .